


So Close, Yet So Far

by soraxtsuna123



Category: The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Again sort of, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Attempt at Humor, Coming of Age, Drama, Fluff, Funny, Future Fic, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Modern Era, Mystery, Romance, Sexuality Crisis, Slice of Life, Sort Of, Strangers to Lovers, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:35:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 57,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24503995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soraxtsuna123/pseuds/soraxtsuna123
Summary: After a freak storm, Ponyboy gets sent to the future with no way back to his time. With the help of a boy that he runs into along the way, they have to figure out how to get back. But does he want to return to his own time in the end?Posted on FFN.
Relationships: Ponyboy Curtis/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 66
Kudos: 65





	1. We're Not in the 60's Anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never experienced tornadoes before, so I am sorry if this is a bit inaccurate. Actually, it’s very exaggerated. I wanted to base it off of the Wizard of Oz.

The day that Ponyboy’s life changed, the sky had turned green. Looking back at it, he wouldn’t have been able to tell you what exactly happened or how it did in that matter. But one thing was for sure. Somehow, the massive tornado that had occurred that day had something to do with it.

By no means, was Ponyboy Curtis a stranger to tornadoes. In fact, he could call himself an expert in dealing with them with how much experience he had. That was why he wasn’t surprised when Tulsa was hit with a tornado. They were frequent in Oklahoma. But, even if he was used to them, this one was different. It was so different that he was not prepared for it at all.

Perhaps Ponyboy should have readied himself for it or even expected it to appear. He was given many warnings beforehand like the wind becoming absolutely still. Even the green skies were an obvious given. However, he guessed that he wasn’t in the right mindset that day. He hardly felt like he was in his own body. Ponyboy had only fully processed the warning signs when alarms started to blare, reverberating throughout Tulsa’s streets. The alarms sent chills down his spine as he nearly jumped out of his skin. If there was one thing that he could never get used to when there were tornadoes, it was the eerie alarm that skyrocketed his anxiety tenfold.

“A tornado?” he lowly muttered to himself, snapping his head towards the window. He blinked heavily, mouth becoming slightly ajar. He had felt off all day. Was this the reason for it?

Slowly, the young greaser approached the window, even though he knew that he wasn’t supposed to be near glass in case it shattered on him. He looked around, trying to see if he was able to see the tornado form from his house. However, all he saw were the desolate streets. Not one person was outside.

“What are you doing?!” Darry’s voice suddenly shrilled behind him. A hand grabbed his shoulder, violently yanking him backward. Darry’s icy eyes glared down on him, causing him to gulp. “What were you thinking?! Did you knock your head or something to be that stupid?! You know better not to stand in front of a window during a tornado!”

There Darry went again. Even though he was hollering at him to keep him safe, he should have been gentler. Ponyboy shook his head, squeezing his eyes tightly together. He really wasn’t feeling right that day, keeping his head trapped in the clouds way more than usual.

“Sorry,” Ponyboy apologized. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, of course, you weren’t. You never think. What you did was stupid. Even though you get all of these great grades in school, you didn’t have enough sense to think that standing in front of glass during a tornado was a dumb idea,” Darry continued with a red face. He harshly pressed his finger against Ponyboy’s forehead, pushing his head back.

Ponyboy clenched his jaw, feeling his irritation bubble up. He hated how paranoid Darry got during these situations. “Look, I said that I was sorry!”

Darry rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure… Now get to the middle of the house. We’re going to wait this tornado out.”

“The middle of the house wouldn’t save us if the tornado went straight through it.”

“You better hope that it doesn’t. Now, _get going_.”

Darry walked away, heading towards the middle of the house, which wasn’t far because of how small it was. Their house wouldn’t stand a chance if the tornado went down their street. He huffed, about to follow Darry and to join Soda who was already waiting for them, but something compelled him to look outside again.

He peered out the window, seeing that the wind had picked up. It strongly howled, practically blowing the trees sideways. Random trash and rubble rolled across the ground as if the wind was playing a fast and endless bowling match.

Ponyboy wondered if Johnny was okay. He hoped that he had found shelter and was safe. This storm was going to be a nasty one. He also hoped that everybody else in the gang was going to be okay as well, of course. It was hard not to worry about them. The idea of not knowing about their condition until after the storm ends freaked him out quite a bit.

Suddenly, a flash of movement on the road caught his attention. A dog sped down it, running with the grain of the wind. Ponyboy, at first, didn’t think much about it besides worrying about its safety a bit. But that was when he saw a large sign from a Waffle House fly after the dog. He watched in horror as it fell onto it, and, through the alarms and the howling winds, he distinctively heard the heart-dropping sound of it yelping out in pain. The dog struggled under the object, clawing at the asphalt in an attempt to free itself. It yowled, panicking as the winds became stronger.

Christ, Ponyboy couldn’t just stand there and stare at it. He had to do something, or else its injury or death was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Without thinking too much more into it, Ponyboy ran towards the front door. He ripped it open, shielding his face as a blast of wind hit him. Golly, the wind was more powerful than he had thought. He licked his lips that were already becoming dry as he pushed himself outside.

He had to do it. He needed to save that dog!

“Ponyboy?” he heard Soda ask, confusion plastered onto his face. “Why did you open the door?”

But Ponyboy didn’t have the chance to answer him before Darry bellowed out, “What are you doing? Close the door and get back inside!”

“I can’t leave that dog!” he argued.

“The dog will be fine, so shut the door!”

“Ponyboy, I know that you want to save it, but going out there will put you in danger,” Soda tried to reason.

Pony’s head snapped back over to the dog, stomach flipping. He chewed on his bottom lip, shaking his head. He couldn’t leave the dog’s safety up to chance.

“I can’t,” he stated. “It needs help!”

“I swear,” Darry started, “if you even try to—”

“I’ll be only outside for a minute! I’ll be fine!”

Before any of them could argue him, Ponyboy sprinted towards the dog. He ignored the screams that came out of both of their mouths, which were almost drowned out by the wind. The wind was so strong and intense, almost powerful enough to lift Ponyboy off of the ground. He probably would have if he was angled differently. His eyes watered as particulate matter flew into them, making it difficult to safely navigate himself. The exposure painfully reminded him that he was not invincible and that he was only a fragile human being that was trying to play hero. And heroes always were the ones who died or got injured.

While he was rushing towards the dog he started to think twice about his decision. Did he make a mistake when he went out to save it? Was this act of heroism going to be the death of him? However, when he heard the dog whimpering again, he knew that he had made the right decision. Ponyboy had to save that dog no matter what.

Eventually, he made it to the dog, who finally noticed his presence. It snapped its head towards him, lips curling upwards to bare its jagged teeth. It started to bark at him, growling defensively. Instantly, Ponyboy rose both of his hands up, slowing down his movement to show the dog that he meant it no harm. He should have been scared by the reaction. However, he knew that the dog was hurt and scared.

It continued to growl at him, but when he placed his hands on the sign and started to lift it up with all of his strength, it quieted down and resumed its whimpering. Ponyboy grunted, planting his feet on the ground in a stable position. His fingers dug into the sign as his muscles trembled. It was heavy—way heavier than what he thought it was going to be. He wished that Darry and Soda were helping him out. However, the longer that he was outside, the more his adrenaline raised. Fueled by newfound strength, the sign finally started to move. It was only a few inches, but it was enough.

The dog crawled out, limping. Ponyboy let the sign drop back down, letting out a sigh of relief. He turned to the dog who was staring back at him, but it only lasted a second. All of a sudden, it loud out a terrified whimper, stuffing its tail between its legs. The dog backed away from him before hopping away as quickly as it could.

Confused, Ponyboy heavily blinked. He wondered what it was so scared about. But he shrugged it off, knowing that he had to get back inside. He had stayed outside for too long and he had the solace that the dog was safe. Ponyboy turned around, about to head back inside, when he realized what the dog was so scared about. As soon as he saw it, his mouth dropped, and his eyes practically boggled out of his head. There in front of him was the tornado. It wasn’t the largest that he had seen, but it was still humongous. Ponyboy didn’t know how far it was from him, that was how big it was. But it was close enough to see rubble swirling around it. Even he felt like he was about to be picked up at any moment.

The green sky was covered in thick, intimidating clouds that started to shoot out lightning. The lightning struck the tornado with thunder following soon after, shaking him out of his daze.

He had to get back inside.

“Run!” he heard one of his brothers scream but he couldn’t tell who it was. It was so loud outside that he couldn’t even hear his own breath.

He started to run towards the house without another thought. His feet felt heavy as if he were running through water. The wind kept pushing him away from the house, creating a wall that he couldn’t get past.

The tornado was getting closer and it soon became clear that he, despite it being so close, wasn’t going to make it back inside the house. His breath shuttered, internally cursing. He looked at his brothers who were trying to make their way over to him, but something told Ponyboy that they weren’t going to make it. They were only putting themselves in danger.

“Get back inside!” Ponyboy screamed, not knowing if they heard him or not. He looked around for something to hold onto, seeing that there was a streetlight just within his reach. He stretched out his arms, looping them around the pole before he pulled himself closer into a tight hug. He could already feel his body being lifted up, but he held on for dear life.

But it didn’t matter anyway, it seemed. The sign that had nearly crushed the dog was lifted off the ground. It spun around in the air for a bit before it suddenly flew towards him. He didn’t have enough time to fully process what was happening before it struck. He didn’t even have enough time to feel any emotions (besides his preexisting fear) or to process the lightning that struck the sign. But one moment, he was watching the sign fly closer to him and the next the next thing that he knew, a rush of pain spread throughout his body before everything went black. The last thing that Ponyboy thought about before he completely slipped into unconsciousness was at least he was able to leave the world while he was unconscious.

“Ponyboy!” Soda screamed when he saw the sign fly towards his younger brother. They tried to rush over to where Ponyboy was, hoping that they would be able to make it there in time. However, before they could even take another step towards him, lightning struck down. The static caused their hairs to stand on their ends, blinking heavily at the sudden flash of light. But, when they opened their eyes again, everything was absolutely still. There was not a single cloud in the blue sky, no powerful winds, nor was there a tornado. It was as if it had vanished in thin air—like there was never one to begin with. The only hint that they had was rubble and objects that were littered on the ground.

But, much to their devastation, the storm wasn’t the only thing that had vanished. Just like the storm, their brother, Ponyboy Curtis, was gone.

* * *

* * *

Ponyboy woke up with a raging headache and a body that felt like it had been hit by a train. Groaning, he sat up, clutching his head. His eyes fluttered open, blinking away the fuzziness that layered over his vision.

Golly, what happened? Why was he hurting so much?

After he felt ready enough, Ponyboy looked around to find himself in an alleyway, much to his confusion. He knew for a fact that he wasn’t in an alleyway before. He didn’t hang around them too often. Darry said to stay clear of them because of how much drug dealing and crimes that went around in them. Ponyboy wasn’t sure if that was completely true, but he followed his instructions well enough. He sometimes went through them with Dally and Johnny though.

He racked his brain, rubbing at his pounding temples. Something happened before this, but what?

That’s when he remembered the past events.

The tornado. There was a large tornado and he had been outside before he was hit by something. His eyes widened as he patted his body down. He cursed internally, gasping out in short, quick breaths. Wasn’t he supposed to be dead? Or, at the very least, extremely injured? But besides the headache and aching body, he was fine. How…? He shook his head. Was it possible that the tornado was something that he imagined? If that was true, then that was one vivid daydream.

Christ… he survived…

Ponyboy wondered how long he had been out. It looked to be around midday. The tornado had hit during the evening. That would mean that he had been out for almost a full day. He cursed under his breath. The gang was probably worried about him. They probably thought that he was dead. He had to get back home.

He stood up, stretching his stiff muscles. After that, he walked down the alleyway to see where he was, hoping that he wasn’t too far away from home. But, when he stepped out onto the street, his breath left him. What the…

Pony shook his head, rubbing at his eyes to make sure that they weren’t playing tricks on him. But when he looked again, everything that he saw stayed the same.

Man, he must have either hit his head hard or somehow flew to another city altogether.

It was just a normal street, don’t get him wrong. He probably wouldn’t have thought much about it if there weren’t people or cars on it. The cars were sleek, and they had different bodies than the ones that he knew. They didn’t have as much personality and individuality as the Soc cars that he had seen. Most of them looked pretty similar to each other—hardly distinguishable if it weren’t for their brands’ logo. They looked nice though. Ponyboy just hadn’t seen cars like them before, which was strange. He hung around the DX Station enough to see many different kinds of cars. Even the newer ones. None of them looked like these cars.

The people, on the other hand, looked different when it came down to styles as well. While it was pretty easy to see the distinctions between the different social classes before, it was hard now. Their clothes seemed like an individualistic choice rather than a way to fit in with a group. His ears turned red when he saw some of the types of clothes that were being worn. Although some females were wearing comfortable clothes like sweats and a sweatshirt (some were even wearing jeans with large holes in them, for whatever reason), others were wearing short skirts or pants that hardly went over their bottoms. Some females were even wearing what seemed like half of a shirt, leaving part of their stomach exposed. And even though some of it was pretty revealing, everybody seemed confident in their outfits. Nobody ogled at their clothes or their exposed bodies as if the clothing styles had been normalized. Even the males had their own individualistic styles that complimented them. Fortunately, it wasn’t as revealing as it was with the clothes that the females wore.

There was no way that his eyes were telling him the truth. It was all too strange. However, deep down, he knew that what he was seeing was true.

What was going on?

Ponyboy took a deep breath, rubbing at his eyes again. First things first. He needed to find out where he was so he could get back home. Looking around, Ponyboy spotted a guy who was leaning against the wall. He was looking down at something in his hand. He walked over to him, hoping that he would be able to get some answers.

“Excuse me?” Ponyboy asked, but he received no answer from the boy. So, he tried again with a short wave. “Excuse me?”

Finally, the boy looked up, giving him a once over, before he pulled something out from one of his ears.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

Ponyboy pressed his tongue to the back of his teeth. Man, how was he going to phrase his question without seeming weird? After a long second of thinking about it, he just went for it. Chances were, he was never going to see this guy again. “Can you tell me where I am?”

The guy looked down the street at a sign before turning back to him. “South Lewis Avenue?”

Ponyboy recognized that street. The movie theater was on that street. But this couldn’t have been the same because of how different it looked. Ponyboy shook his head. “No, I meant the city.”

The boy gave him a strange look, which Ponyboy didn’t blame him for. “You don’t know what _city_ you’re in?”

“No.”

There was a long pause before the guy started to laugh. His face brightened in realization as he looked around in search of something, but Ponyboy didn’t know what it was. “Okay, where’s the camera?”

“The camera?” It was Ponyboy’s turn to give him a strange look.

“Yeah, you’re doing a social experiment, aren’t you? Or maybe it’s a prank! Like, ‘See what people do when they see someone dressed like they’re from _Grease_ ’. What are you going to do next? Ask for the date and pretend that you’re from the past?”

Ponyboy blinked heavily, eyebrows scrunching together _. Grease_? What was that? He was a greaser if that was what he meant…

“I’m a greaser,” Ponyboy slowly clarified.

“So, you _are_ playing a _Grease_ role! I knew it!” The guy smiled, composing himself. “Okay, I’ll play along with your prank. You’re in Tulsa.”

What? Ponyboy looked around at the unrecognizable shops. This wasn’t Tulsa. He knew the city like the back of his hand. “No, I’m not. This isn’t Tulsa.”

Again, the other male gave him a strange look, clearly caught off guard. He slowed down his sentence. “Yes, it is. You’re in Tulsa, Oklahoma.”

Suddenly, there was a sickening feeling in Ponyboy’s stomach. This wasn’t right. This couldn’t have been Tulsa. There was no way. But when he looked more at his surroundings, he started to recognize small details like the similar framings of the stores. Although, the names were different. It was all there, but it seemed like a lot of time had passed since that last time he was there.

What was happening? He thought back to the male’s previous assumptions about him. It was something about him being from the past. But that was impossible, right? A question popped up in his head, but he didn’t want to ask it in fear that he was going to be told something that he didn’t want to hear.

“What day is it?” Ponyboy swallowed out, hands clammy. “The full date, I mean.”

The male started to answer him, but all Ponyboy could hear was static. He wasn’t sure what he said, but one thing stood out. “—of the year 2020.”

Instantly, Ponyboy felt dizzy. His head swam as he tried to process everything. 2020? Was he pulling his leg? No, he wouldn’t lie about that. He was telling the truth. But it didn’t make sense. Nothing did. Time travel wasn’t real. What was going on? There were so many questions that he couldn’t answer. But, somehow, one thing was for sure: he wasn’t in _his_ Tulsa anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! PLEASE READ EVERYTHING:
> 
> Hello! Welcome to my new story! I have some very important topics for you to read about before the next chapter comes out. First (1): how to help me create humorous content. Second (2): the time period that this story will take place in.
> 
> (1): Most of this story will be based around Ponyboy discovering new things, reacting to them, and adjusting his character to the new time. There is so much out there, and I would so love it if you pitched in ideas on what he should react to. For example: phones and trends. Just comment your ideas and I will try my best to incorporate as many as I can into the chapters while still following the main storyline. I may not do all of them and I will try my best to provide credit to you as well. I will also try my best to blend everything in without making it seem super awkward.
> 
> (2): 2020 is a bitch. This story will be taken place in modern times and thus will be timestamped in 2020. However, so much stuff is going on in the news this year. Even though there are a lot of topics that should be discussed, I will not be adding any of them. I want this to be a light, happy story. So, my fic will be about 2020 without the major events.
> 
> Thank you!


	2. Lost Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ponyboy tries to find someone from the gang but ends up meeting a boy who offers to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who contributed. I have noted your suggestions and they will appear in later chapters. I will also be providing you credit and giving thanks on the chapters where they appear.  
> Special thanks to JustAReader1.0, Blue eyed titan99, GeekishFangirl, Kris, and the guest reviewer who helped me develop the love interest.

The world around Ponyboy was blurry. It spun around him as if he were on some sort of spinning fair ride. His stomach twisted and turned as his eyes rapidly shifted around to examine every inch of his surroundings despite it making him even more panicked. He pushed himself forward with a heart that was pounding against his chest so quickly that it was about to leap out of it. Nobody really paid him any attention even though he was probably pale or green in color. They were all focused on something else. Some people were talking with friends or family members, while others seemed like they were talking to themselves. It was noisy—so incredibly loud that it gave him a headache. Not only was it loud there, but his brain was also having a meltdown.

Where was he? Well, he knew where he was but… why? Why was this happening to him and how? What was going to happen to him now? What was he supposed to do? Where was he supposed to go? These questions constantly reminded him that he was lost; stranded in a city that he knew so well. He shoved his clammy hands into his empty pockets. He didn’t have any money, and even if he did, he would run out within the day.

Ponyboy’s feet instinctively came to a stop outside of Circle Cinema, the theater that he went to when he wanted to watch the newest movies that had come out. It looked like it was still open, although not many people were walking in or out of it. The building looked a lot like how he knew it to be, much to his relief. The white paint was freshly layered on and the familiar scent of popcorn still wafted out of it. However, the bricks that crowned the theater were faded and Paul Newman’s name (or any famous actor, really) did not adorn the informative sign.

Even though he had visited the theater what was days ago for him, he couldn’t help but reminisce on his memories that he had made in there. It made Ponyboy sad to remember all of his memories, telling him that he was no longer going to experience any more of them, despite him preferring to watch movies alone. He was no longer going to have long chats about the movie with Johnny, or slouch in his seat when one of the gang members threw popcorn at a random person. Ponyboy shouldn’t be thinking like that—like there was no hope for him returning to his time—but he just couldn’t help himself.

He continued to walk, trying to focus on the sound of his feet scuffling across the sidewalk instead of the blaring noises around him. Ponyboy pressed his lips together. He couldn’t stay here. There had to be a way back. If he made it to the future, then there had to be a way to reverse everything. There just had to be. However he was going to do it, he couldn’t do it alone. Ponyboy needed help.

He instantly thought about the gang. Any of them would help him. But the question was: where was he going to find someone? It had been over fifty years since the storm had happened before he came to this time **.** The number made his head spin. Golly, he was supposed to be in his late-sixties or early-seventies in 2020. His breath shuttered. He didn’t want to think about that. The gang was older now as well. What chance did he have for at least one of them to still be living in Tulsa?

But he couldn’t give up hope yet.

But where was he supposed to begin? And what was he supposed to say to them if he finds someone? They would either laugh at him or have a heart attack if he told them that he had time traveled from the past. Ponyboy let out a sigh, rubbing the pads of his fingers against his temples.

There was one place that he needed to start. His house.

Ponyboy started to walk towards his house, which was harder than what he thought it was going to be. Even though he had walked that very same path a countless number of times, it was so different now. The houses were still there, but they were older and rotted. Trees in some areas had been cut down and shrubbery had grown out of control in others. Eventually, though, he made it, but his house was just like the other ones. It looked like it was about to fall down. The paint had been chipped off and weathered down, hardly leaving any signs of the original color on it. The fence was no longer there, and neither were some of the trees that he had climbed when he was younger. He felt his stomach lurch just looking at its pitiful state. Christ, what time does to something…

Despite it being rundown, there was a car parked in front of it, and he could hear some pots clanging through an open window. There was someone inside of it, but who?

Licking his chapped lips and wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans, Ponyboy walked over to the front door. He hoped that someone he knew was still living inside of it. His chest tightened when he knocked on it.

Please. Please. Please. Please. Please.

Suddenly, the door opened and Ponyboy felt his heart drop. Instead of someone from the gang, there was a girl. She looked to be around the same age as Darry—college-aged. She shot him a quizzical look as she peered through the screen door that still separated them.

“Hello?” she asked apprehensively. She kept her hand firmly on the door as if she was ready to slam it shut if needed. Ponyboy didn’t understand why she was so wary though.

“Hi,” Ponyboy started, feeling sweat falling down his temple. “I was wondering if Darrel Curtis lived here?”

She shook her head. “Sorry, wrong house.”

“He could have been a previous owner then? If you had any contact information on him—”

Before Ponyboy could continue, the girl cut him off. She shook her head again, looking disappointed in herself that she couldn’t help him. “This is a rental house and a lot of college students had lived here before me. Sorry… I have no clue who lived here before. I can maybe give you the contact information to my landlord if that would help…”

It was Ponyboy’s turn to shake his head. He forced a smile onto his face, feeling pressure behind his eyes. “That’s okay. I’ll just check the address again. I must have made a wrong turn. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

Shooting him one last sympathetic look, the girl closed the door, leaving Ponyboy at square one again. He walked away from his house, wanting to break down then and there. It was hopeful thinking that his brothers were still living in that shabby house. He should have known from the get-go that they were gone.

What was he supposed to do now? Ponyboy was sure that the rest of the gang weren’t living in their old houses. But that didn’t mean that they had left Tulsa. They had always told him that he was going to be the one that got to leave. Maybe… just maybe… they were still here somewhere.

He needed to find a way to contact them and the only way to do that was through a phonebook. Maybe he should stop by the DX Station. While there, he could also see if they have any records of Soda and Steve working there. It was far away to travel on foot, and he didn’t have enough money to get on a bus nor did he have a car (or a license, in that matter) to drive there on his own. Walking was out of the question. If he had a hard time finding his own house, then he was going to have a tougher time finding the DX Station. Maybe… he could sneak onto a bus. The downside to doing that was that he could get himself in a lot of trouble if he was caught.

Humming, Ponyboy decided to just try it anyway. He walked over to the bus stop which was still there. There were a few people that were waiting. He sat down, sandwiching his head between his knees as he waited for the bus to arrive. When it did, Ponyboy stood up, waiting for people to leave out of the middle door. Right after the last person exited the bus, and people started to board, Ponyboy hopped in before the middle door could close. He instantly ducked down, sliding into a row of seats, before sitting down. He made sure to slouch to not be totally seen by the bus driver. The whole process was actually a lot easier than what he had thought it was going to be like. Soon enough, he was on his way.

Ponyboy tried to not look out of the window. He was already overwhelmed enough. However, he couldn’t help but feel curious about how much the city had changed over time. It looked quite different. He recognized old hotels by the train tracks which were now boarded up, saw restaurants that were replaced by others, observed spots where buildings were demolished and replaced by another, and noticed that there were gas stations that were now on almost every corner. None of the small businesses were there anymore, seemingly replaced by large superstores. It was crazy to see how much had changed and how hard it was to recognize familiar spots. It was like he was in a new city altogether.

It didn’t take long for them to near the bus stop that was closest to the DX Station. There was a loud ding from someone who had pulled down the cord that told the driver that people needed to get off. Soon enough, the bus pulled to the side of the road and Ponyboy hopped out just as quickly as he had gotten in. He didn’t look back in fear that the bus driver would be staring at him suspiciously. What mattered though was getting to the DX Station.

Only when it was too late to change his mind did Ponyboy realize that he didn’t want to visit the gas station. He gazed upon it, heart dropping to his feet once again. The DX Station was gone. Well, it was physically there, but it was abandoned and about to fall over. He walked under the awning, shielding his eyes from the bright, afternoon sunlight. His foot pressed against the spot where the gas pumps used to be, letting out a shuttering breath. He really shouldn’t have come. It only made him sad. He could just see Soda leaning against one of the gas pumps as he talked to the women that stopped by, and he could see Steve working on the cars in the garage. He could see himself sitting on the counter inside, kicking his feet as he drank a bottle of Pepsi.

Christ, what was he thinking coming here? He should have known better. But what else was he supposed to do? Ponyboy felt hot tears burn behind his eyes. He sank down to the ground, fear shaking him to his core.

What now? What was he supposed to do now? He had no money, no food, no water, no shelter, and no idea how anything worked or where anything was anymore. Ponyboy had nothing.

Finally, after being in the future for a few hours, he had broken down. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, falling onto the dirty ground. His breaths came out in quick bursts as he whimpered quietly to himself. He was alone—so very alone. He hated to admit it, but he was only a kid. Now, he was forced to live in an unfamiliar place with only the clothes that he was wearing.

Christ, he was going to die here. He was never going to see the gang again. That thought only made him sob harder.

He wasn’t sure how long he had cried for, but he was interrupted by a car pulling off to the side of the road near the gas station. A young male that was around Johnny’s age stepped out. He scratched at his dark hair as he walked over to his flat tire. Even though Ponyboy was quite a distance away, he could hear him let out a long sigh. The teen pulled out something from his pocket and then sighed again, even more frustrated than before. He stuffed it back into his pocket, looking around the area for help. His eyes landed on Ponyboy, causing the greaser to feel cold sweat trickle down his spine. The guy started to walk over to him, and Pony started to panic; unsure of what he was supposed to do.

“Hey,” the guy started with a gentle and nervous voice. He was lanky and had a glassy face that was soft but had a jawline that was sharper than a knife—a weird mixture. He picked at his hair, which looked like it had been dyed before due to the tips being a faded color, with his gnawed-down nails. The guy looked Ponyboy up and down with his almond-shaped eyes, catching sight of the puffiness in them, but he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he continued with his own issue. “By any chance, do you know how to change a car tire? Mine blew.”

Ponyboy didn’t know what to say at first. He subconsciously clenched his jaw as he picked at a loose string that was on his shirt. He knew how to change a tire from watching Steve do it many times before, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was talking to him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to him without seeming crazy or flat-out dumb. Eventually, though, he managed to say, “Yeah.”

Relief flashed over the guy’s face, but he still looked tense and uncomfortable with talking to him. “Can you help me out? I’ve never done it before and my phone’s dead so I can’t look up how to do it.”

Ponyboy didn’t know what he meant by his phone being dead, but he nodded anyway and followed him to the car. The entire time, the guy kept a curious eye on him, even as he was taking out the spare tire and tools from the trunk. He placed them all on the ground and Ponyboy went to work.

“My name is Samuel, by the way,” he introduced, crouching down while keeping a fairly large distance between them. “What about you?”

“I’m Ponyboy,” Ponyboy replied, sticking the jack under the car. He prepared himself for his name to be made fun of. Everybody always did back in his time. Why would it be any different now?

However, Samuel only repeated his name under his breath as if he was testing the sound of it out on his tongue. “What are you doing out here, Ponyboy?”

Ponyboy’s head snapped towards him, gaping. He wasn’t going to question his name? That rarely ever happened. He remembered all of the times where teachers and substitutes had thought that he had changed the attendance sheet because of how outlandish his name was. It was really embarrassing having to explain that it was in fact his birth name while listening to the classmates roar out in laughter. “You’re not going to laugh at my name?”

Samuel shook his head, pulling at his hair again. “If Elon Musk can name his child X Æ A-12, then your name is really normal. Besides, I would have loved to have a unique name like yours. It beats having a common one where at least one person in every class has it. Roll call is terrible.”

“I know what you’re talking about.” But he didn’t. At least, not exactly. He kept thinking about X Æ A-12. What a name that was. He didn’t even know how to spell it or why there were random numbers in it. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Samuel stare at him. Ponyboy shifted uncomfortably, trying to busy himself with the tire.

“I don’t mean to pry or anything,” Samuel started, clearing his throat, “but are you okay?”

Ponyboy pulled off the wheel and dropped it on the ground by his feet. He gulped out, “It’s been a long day.”

He just wished that Samuel would stop asking him so many questions. But, of course, he continued. “Were you in a school play before this? _Grease_ , maybe?”

There was that name again. What was with that? He shook his head. “Why is everybody saying that? What even is _Grease_?”

There was a long silence as Samuel looked at him flabbergasted. “You’re kidding, right? You don’t know what _Grease_ is? The musical?”

Ponyboy shook his head again. “Never. Why are people comparing me to it?”

“Well, because you look like one of those greasers, or whatever.”

“I _am_ a greaser.” It slipped out before he could stop himself. He pressed his lips tightly together, loudly exhaling out of his nose. Should he tell him that he was from the past? Probably not. That would be a one-way ticket to the loony bin. But, the more that he thought about it, the more that he was okay with that. At least he would get food and shelter.

“I’m sorry… but are you trying to crack a joke right now? Because your face says that you’re serious… I’m really confused about what’s going on.”

“I’m being serious.” Well, he already dug himself in a hole.

Samuel paused, examining him more. Gears turned in his head. “I’m sorry, but this may sound really rude. I don’t mean it to be. But did you hit your head? Like you were playing a character in the musical, hit your head, and now you think that you’re somebody from it? Sort of like amnesia or some variation of it.”

Amnesia… Amnesia might actually be a great way to go. But Ponyboy didn’t know if amnesia went as far as forgetting what certain objects were. Maybe he could get away with it and maybe he couldn’t, which led to another problem altogether. If he had amnesia, the first thing that anybody would do is take him to a hospital or a police station. That couldn’t happen, he knew that much. They would find out that he wasn’t documented as a person from this timeline, and they would most likely find out that he had somehow transported from the past. If that were to happen, there would be chaos. But there was a chance of something good happening because of it. Ponyboy swallowed thickly, deciding to play along anyway. If push comes to shove, he had the option to run away.

“Maybe,” Ponyboy lied. “I do have this bad headache… and I woke up in the middle of an alleyway. I don’t really know where I am. I just know that my name is Ponyboy.”

Cursing under his breath, Samuel quickly looked away. He chewed at his nails as he tried to think about what he should do. He never had this happen to him before. Of course, the car had to break down right in front of someone with a brain injury.

“Do you want me to take you to the hospital or the police station. They would figure out everything and could get you back home,” Samuel offered, cringing at his words. He was being crazy. Why did he suggest to take him, a total stranger, somewhere in his car?

Ponyboy’s eyes widened, as a rush of panic washed over him. “No! I can’t go to the hospital or the police.”

“Why not? You obviously need to go.”

“I… uh…” Ponyboy, think! Why wouldn’t he be able to go? He needed a good lie. “I think… I think I was in an orphanage before. I remember being hurt.”

That was enough for Samuel to understand. He awkwardly nodded his head, trying to think of what else they could do. “My dad is actually a doctor. He might be able to take a look at your head and he probably would know what to do afterward with your situation.”

Maybe it was the exhaustion catching up to him or maybe it was his fear that made Ponyboy mindlessly nod his head. He finished changing the tire, helping Samuel put everything back.

“God, I must be crazy for doing this,” Samuel muttered under his breath. He also murmured something about car hijacking and how he was probably going to die for helping him, but Ponyboy pretended like he didn’t hear him.

“You and me both, man,” Ponyboy reciprocated, closing the trunk.

“My parents are going to freak…” Samuel gestured for him to hop in, which Ponyboy did. He didn’t bother to put on his seatbelt, but when a continuous beeping rang through the car he squirmed in his seat, unsure of what it was for. He got that answer soon enough though when Samuel turned to him expectantly. “I’m not going to start until you put on your seatbelt.”

Laughing quietly, Ponyboy fastened the seatbelt, and, soon enough, they were on their way. Ponyboy watched the DX Station disappear behind him through the side mirror. He wasn’t sure if he liked going. It felt like he was leaving behind something that was unexpectedly a huge part of who he was and of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure if you guys are going to like Samuel as much as Archer. Nobody could replace him. Not even me, the author. Anyway, you might find that he’s too shy or tentative. He gets a lot of character explanation/development in future chapters. Below is a short description of him if you really want to learn more about where I am aiming for him. If not, you can skip it.
> 
> Samuel Lee: He is a Korean/Caucasian boy who had just turned 16. Samuel (doesn’t like being called Sam) is a person who is apprehensive of people that he had just met, being fed with a lot of bad stories growing up. However, when he warms up to people, he is very talkative and won’t shut up. Despite this, he is very guarded and keeps everything bottled within himself. He hides this behind his personality which is a ray of literal sunshine. He also has a very dark humor which worries a lot of people around him. Samuel grew up in a strict household with high expectations on him, making him become very hard on himself, contributing to his anxiety, and becoming a perfectionist. Thus, he develops a lot of nervous tics and bad addictions. But even though he is like this, when it comes down to romance, he is very different. Samuel loves to distract himself with adventurous activities (he loves the adrenaline) but he also loves being chill from time to time by listening to soft music, watching movies/TV shows, and playing games with his significant other. Samuel loves to live in the moment and loves to record it in some way. He is a very dominant person, taking a lot of inspiration and moves from Korean Dramas. He is designed to be relatable to readers in many aspects.


	3. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ponyboy tells Samuel everything, but he's going to need to prove himself before he is believed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Kris for suggesting him react to TikTok.

At first, the car ride was awkwardly silent. Ponyboy drummed his fingers against his leg, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He tried to distract himself with the stuff around him, which wasn’t that difficult to do. Just like everything else in this time period, cars were vastly different. When Samuel first started the car, he didn’t stick a key inside of the ignition. Instead, he pressed a button. It didn’t even seem like he had a key in the first place, which didn’t make sense to him at all. The car would be really easy to steal. Ponyboy didn’t get it one bit. Again, Ponyboy shifted in his seat, which wasn’t a bench like he was used to. The front seats were separated into two, which he had only seen in racecars before. Instead of the bench, there was the gearshift, an armrest, and some cupholders in the middle. That part actually made sense to him when it came to accessibility and function.

“What do you want to listen to?” Samuel suddenly asked after a few minutes of silence.

“What?” Ponyboy blubbered out, head snapping towards him. “What did you say?”

“What music do you want to listen to.”

Ponyboy blinked, swallowing his saliva to soothe his dry throat. “Oh… uh… What’s there?”

“Anything.”

“Even…” He licked his lips. “Even Elvis?”

Samuel let out a short laugh at that, hitting his steering wheel with his palm. He visibly relaxed, comfortably resting his back against the backrest of his seat. “Elvis? Man, you’re really milking the whole Greaser thing… but okay. Elvis slaps.”

Ponyboy’s eyebrows knitted together. “Slaps? Who’s Elvis slapping?”

This time, Samuel laughed so hard that he snorted. Embarrassed, he blushed. “No! He’s… He’s not slapping anyone. I was just saying that his music is really good.”

He slowed to a stop at a stoplight. As soon as he did that, Samuel fished inside of his pocket and pulled out one of those devices that Ponyboy had been seeing around everywhere. It was hard to tell what he was doing. Samuel’s fingers moved quickly as he taped on whatever it was. Simultaneously, the screen that was planted on the side of the dashboard, where the radio was supposed to be, lit up. The song ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ appeared on it and music started to flow out of the speakers.

“How... How did you do that?” Ponyboy stuttered out, gaping.

“Do what?” Samuel asked.

“The music. There’s no radio.”

Samuel blinked. “There’s still a radio. I’m just not using it right now.”

“Then, how…?” Ponyboy was even more confused now. A radio was the only way to play music from cars.

“Are you talking about Bluetooth? It’s wireless. The car is connected to this.” Samuel held up the device that he was using before he carefully dropped it in one of the cup holders. “It lets me listen to whatever I want and more. Which is great because of— Green light.”

His expression fell flat as he started to drive again. The car didn’t jerk, rolling smoothly on the ground. It was another thing that was different. He didn’t notice it at first, but there wasn’t a clutch. There were only two pedals; not three.

“Where’s the clutch?” Ponyboy asked, staring at Samuel’s foot… which wasn’t touching the accelerator at all. The car was somehow still maintaining the same speed. “Why aren’t you pressing the accelerator?”

Samuel shot him a quick glance like he was judging him on what he had just said. “This isn’t a manual car. It’s automatic. People that drive manual cars are another breed of people.” From what he had seen, Samuel was a timid guy. But now that he was more relaxed, it was clear that there was an underlying sassiness to him. Samuel paused. “And I’m using cruise control. It’s basically auto-pilot but I still have to keep my hands on the wheel.”

Auto-pilot? They seriously had auto-pilot in the future? Ponyboy’s mind was blown. Golly, cars seriously went a long way. The gang, especially Steve, would have gone nuts over this.

He must have made an astonished face since Samuel let out another short laugh. “If you think that’s impressive, you should see my dad’s car. This is really standard car stuff, but I wouldn’t be driving this if my parents haven’t bought it for themselves a few years back.”

That was the end of their conversation. Ponyboy relaxed in his seat, leaning his head against the window as he listened to Elvis sing. He finally had time to sort everything out.

Eventually, the two of them made it to Samuel’s house. It was large and far fancier than the house that he grew up in. It looked like it belonged to a Soc, but that term probably didn’t apply anymore.

“Take off your shoes,” Samuel instructed when they stepped inside. Ponyboy nodded, doing as he was told. “Dad? Are you home?”

“I’m in my office!” a voice laced in a deep accent answered back.

Samuel led Ponyboy through the house, not even giving him enough time to process the interior. He led him to an office where a balding man was sitting at a desk.

“Who’s your friend?” Samuel’s father asked when they entered the office, peering at him through his half-moon glasses. The man’s eyes were sharp and calculating as if he was learning every little thing about him. Ponyboy shifted on his feet, shivering.

“Oh… This is Ponyboy,” Samuel introduced. He stuck his clammy hands into his pockets.

Courteously, his father bent forward and held out his hand. Ponyboy hastily shook it, hoping that his own hands weren’t sweaty. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr…” Ponyboy dragged out.

“Lee.”

“Mr. Lee.”

Mr. Lee pointed between the two of them. “And how did you two meet? I don’t believe Samuel talked about you before.”

“Well… here’s the thing,” Samuel started, pursing his lips. Just from the sentence, anybody would know that he was going to say something that wasn’t very good. “We just met today. Ponyboy helped me with changing a tire.”

If possible, Mr. Lee’s eyes became icier than Darry’s on a bad day. His lips pressed together into a thin line. His hands gripped the side of the desk, addressing Samuel but kept his eyes cautiously trained on Ponyboy. “And you’ve decided to give him a ride and bring him here? Are you crazy?!”

“I couldn’t leave him out there! I think he has amnesia. I didn’t know what to do!”

And just like that, Mr. Lee turned his full attention to Ponyboy. “Amnesia?”

He said that like he didn’t completely believe him. Ponyboy didn’t blame him. He nodded, nonetheless. Mr. Lee pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a slow breath.

“I suppose I could check it out,” Mr. Lee sighed. “We’ll have to go to the hospital though. All of my equipment is there. We can find your family after that.”

“I… I can’t go to the hospital,” Ponyboy proclaimed, eyes widening.

“It’s my obligation.”

Sweat started to layer on Ponyboy’s skin, giving him chills down his spine. There was really no avoiding it. He should have known better. What now? What should he do? Think, Ponyboy! Think! But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out how to go around this conundrum. His mouth opened before it closed again.

Ponyboy turned to Samuel, panic blown on his face. With a dry throat, he decided to stay, “Samuel, we need to talk.”

Confused, Samuel nodded after giving him a curious look. They stepped away from the office, ignoring the pointed look Mr. Lee gave him, to a spot in the house where they wouldn’t be overheard.

“What is it?” Samuel asked, tilting his head to the side when he saw how panicked Pony was.

“Um…” Ponyboy started, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He was going to sound absolutely crazy. There was no way that Samuel was going to believe him. It was better for him to leave, but he felt so lost that he didn’t want to do that. “I have something important to tell you… and it’s going to sound crazy, but I promise that I’m not. At least, I don’t think that I am, but—”

He was speaking a thousand words per second; practically hyperventilating with how quickly his breaths were coming out. A hand touched his shoulder, causing his body to involuntarily tense. “Ponyboy, calm down. You’re talking too fast. What’s wrong?”

“You’re not going to believe me.”

Samuel’s eyebrows raised for a second as he huffed, “Try me.”

Well, here goes nothing. “The amnesia thing? I was lying.”

There was a long pause and the warm hand lifted off of his shoulder. “What do you mean that it was a lie?”

“I’m a greaser.”

“Yeah…” Samuel stretched out that word, trying to figure out what Ponyboy was getting at. “That’s what you said before.”

“I’m _actually_ a greaser. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m _not_ from this time period.”

Another long pause passed through them before Samuel stumbled back. His body crashed into a plant, causing it to raddle against the hardwood floors. The slow rocking noises matched with Ponyboy’s pounding heart, making the situation seem even tenser. “Oh my god, you’re out of your mind. I brought a crackhead here. Shit! I should have listened to my instincts when I met you.”

He knew that he was going to act this way. “I’m not on anything. I’m telling you the truth.”

Samuel ran his fingers through his hair. “Time travel isn’t real, dude. You’re crazy.”

“I didn’t believe it was real either, but then a tornado happened and then all of a sudden I am here.”

“I think that you need to go to the hospital.” Samuel turned to the office, raising his voice. “Dad!”

“No! No!” Ponyboy hushed, grabbing Samuel’s arm in a way to soothe the other male. He didn’t know if it helped though. “I wish that I could prove it to you, but I can’t. I’m _not_ lying to you. You just gotta believe me, man.”

For a long time, the two of them held eye contact with each other. Samuel stared into Ponyboy’s green-gray eyes, noticing how pretty they looked in the direct sunlight that came from the windows. He tried to look for any sign of him lying or any redness in the whites of his eyes, but there was no sign of deception or drugs. His eyes gleamed with both desperation and honesty. It was crazy, but something told him that he was telling the truth and that he was to be trusted. However, the logical side of him begged to differ. Time travel was impossible. But maybe there was a way to prove it. He bit his bottom lip. Ponyboy said that he couldn’t prove it, but he had time and technology to his advantage. Maybe…

“Okay, let’s say that you’re telling the truth,” Samuel started, tearing his eyes away from Ponyboy. He took another step away from him. Ponyboy didn’t follow him, eyes brightening up with hope. “I still want some sort of proof.”

Ponyboy’s face dropped. “I can’t prove it.”

“Yeah, but maybe I can.”

Before Ponyboy could ask him what he meant by that, Mr. Lee walked out, eyeing Ponyboy again. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Everything’s fine,” Samuel stuttered out.

“I’ll grab my keys and we can go to the hospital.”

“No need. It was only a prank. He doesn’t have amnesia.”

“It… It was a prank?”

“Yeah. Ponyboy’s a friend and we wanted to see your reaction.” Mr. Lee smiled at that, shaking his head. He chuckled although he still looked a little stupefied. “We’re going to head out and do something, is that alright?”

“Don’t stay out too late. You need to study for your AP tests.”

“That’s at the end of the school year,” Samuel mumbled under his breath so that only Ponyboy could hear him. He nodded before motioning for Pony to follow him, which he did. Soon enough, they were back inside the car. Samuel didn’t start it up, at least not at first. They were silent for a long time before Ponyboy couldn’t take it any longer.

“So, what’s your idea?” he tentatively questioned.

Samuel thought for a long moment before he opened up his mouth and asked, “What school did you go to? Schools keep all of their yearbooks so maybe you’re in one of them.”

Ponyboy’s mouth opened in realization, face brightening. “I went to Will Rogers High School.”

“Will Rogers?”

“Yeah…” Was it gone? “Please tell me that it’s not torn down or abandoned.”

“No, it’s not. I go to that school.” Samuel started up the car. “I guess we know where to start.”

* * *

* * *

The school didn’t look much different from the outside. Ponyboy looked up at it from the parking lot, swallowing the lump in his throat. They entered through the locker room entrance, which was luckily still open because of the team that was practicing on the field. He hoped that the other rooms were open as well.

They quickly snuck over to the library and Samuel jiggled the doorknob. It was locked. Samuel cursed under his breath, pressing his face on the small window that adorned the door. Through the window, he could see a librarian finishing up her work. He raised a fist to knock on the door but before that, he stopped. His heart was pounding against his chest, intrusive thoughts flooding his mind. Samuel went pale. What was he doing? The librarian was going to turn him away. Everything was going to go wrong. He was going to get in trouble. It was all for—

“Samuel? Are you okay?” Ponyboy asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. Samuel nodded, shooting Ponyboy a twitching smile.

He just had to knock. Just… knock…

He repeated what he was going to say to the librarian over and over again in his head, practicing the speech that he had created on the way over to make sure that he wouldn’t make any mistakes. _‘Hi, I’m a student here and I know that the library is closed but I left something that is really important to me. I know where it is, so it’ll only take a second to grab it. May we get it?’_ Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

When he felt like he was ready enough, Samuel knocked on the door. He watched as the librarian snapped her head towards him before walking over. Samuel and Ponyboy took a step back as she opened the door.

“Yes?” the librarian asked, voice scratchy and high-pitched. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

“Hi,” Samuel began, praying that he wouldn’t mess up. His knees quaked, distracting him, but he tried his best to keep his voice stable and his thoughts clear. “I’m a student here and I know that the library is closed but I left something that is really important. I know where it is, so it’ll only take a second to grab it. May we get it?”

The librarian eyed them suspiciously before solemnly nodding. “Be quick.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ponyboy answered as the two of them walked inside. The librarian sat back at her desk, returning to her work. Samuel led Ponyboy through the rows of bookcases before they reached a section dedicated to the yearbooks. He gaped. “Golly, there sure are a lot.”

“Golly?” Samuel repeated but shook his head. There were more important things that he had to do that would hopefully also explain his old vernacular. “What year are you from?”

“1965.”

“Dude, that would make you like…” He quickly calculated in his head. “Like sixty-nine years old.”

“Don’t remind me…” Ponyboy grumbled as he found the yearbook that hadn’t been released when he got transported to the future. “Found it.”

The two of them sat down on the ground and Ponyboy flipped through the pages to see if his yearbook photo was there. But he stopped short when he made it to a page with his picture blown-up on it. Instantly, Ponyboy went sick. A lump formed in his throat as he stared down at the page. _IN LOVING MEMORY_ was printed on the top in bold letters. His breath hitched.

“Holy shit… you were telling the truth…” Samuel murmured, but Ponyboy hardly heard him. There was a ringing in his ear.

They thought that he was dead. The gang… Christ, they must have been heartbroken. His brothers especially. They lost their parents and now they believed that he had died. He couldn’t even comprehend the hurt that they were going through. He didn’t even think about what they thought. Ponyboy believed that he was going to go back like no time had even passed, but the more that he thought about it, the more that he lost hope in that ever happening. Was he even going to get back? Was this a sign that he was never going to return, and that the gang was going to go through all of that hurt of losing him?

The food that Ponyboy ate that morning traveled up his throat and he had to quickly clamp his mouth shut with his hand to stop it from coming out. Someone was calling his name, but he didn’t care enough about who it was. He shot back up to his feet, feeling his vision sway. Ponyboy blindly passed through all of the bookcases which were filled with books that he didn’t recognize. Unfamiliar. Everything was so unfamiliar.

When he got outside of the library, he instantly bent over the nearest trashcan and threw up the vomit that he had been harboring inside of his mouth. He stayed like that, hovering over the trashcan, even though the stench of his bile was nauseating, until a hand was gently placed on his back. He tensed but realized that it was just Samuel. His body relaxed as he stepped away, wiping his lips with his arm.

“Let’s get you cleaned off,” Samuel suggested, leading him to the bathroom with a hand placed on his lower back. Fortunately, it was open. They walked over to the sink where Ponyboy rinsed out his mouth a few times. “Are you okay?”

Ponyboy shook his head, looking at Samuel pitifully. “Everybody thinks that I’m dead. Christ, I need a smoke.”

Samuel didn’t go into him smoking, deciding to save that conversation for later. Ponyboy didn’t need that right now. “That’s not true.”

“Not true? You saw that page.”

“Yeah, but that’s if you don’t go back to your time. People always told me that the future is always changing, but with you coming to this time period… I think that it means that you can change the past as well.”

“I’m going to be stuck here. Let’s be real. I’m never going to go back.”

“Don’t say that. I’ll make sure that you get back. You’ll be back to your family and friends in no time, I swear.” But even Samuel didn’t believe his words. He knew that the chances of that happening was slim to none.

“Why are you helping me? You don’t need to be. You could just forget about me and be on your way like nothing happened.”

“Ponyboy, I just found out that you’re a _time traveler_. I feel like I’m a main character to a movie.” He chuckled to himself. “Besides, I would never leave someone like that. I wasn’t raised that way. We’ll figure it out.”

A small smile lifted the corners of Ponyboy’s lips. He looked down at his feet, shuffling his weight. “Yeah… We’ll figure it out.”

And Ponyboy believed that.


	4. Listen to Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang looks for Ponyboy.
> 
> Ponyboy returns to Samuel's house and gets comforted after a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve decided that this story is going to only have a few chapters to it. It won’t be a slow burn and will move faster.  
> Thank you to: Kris for suggesting Gen Z humor, and Sadlonelyyogurt for suggesting including the stance of LGBTQ.

The time after the storm was deathly quiet besides the screams that rang out from six greasers.

“Ponyboy!” they called out with raw throats, eyes scavenging the rubble around them. The storm had left a mess. Trees were blocking the roads, buildings were collapsed within themselves, and cars were flipped over. Jagged glass covered the roads like gravel, poking small holes into the soles of the greasers’ shoes. Their hands were stinging, blisters and splinters poking out of their palms from all of the rubble that they had moved away. Each stone and board that they lifted pushed pins and needs into their skin, making their eyes involuntarily water. “Ponyboy!”

“Are there any signs of him?” Two-Bit asked, jogging closer to the frantic brothers. Two-Bit’s lips were downturned, opposite to the goofy grin that was always curved onto his face. His Micky Mouse shirt was drenched in sweat, probably smelling worse than gym socks at that point. He, along with the gang, had been scavenging the area for Ponyboy for hours without a break. He was in the need of a drink or two… or enough to get him drunk. But he needed to be sober that evening. Soda and Darry needed it. More importantly, Ponyboy needed it.

“No…” Johnny replied, looking down at his feet. His skin was pale, making the bruises that were littered on it ever the more prominent. “He’s not here.”

Darry loudly sighed, looking at the darkening sky before back at the disheveled gang. He wanted to continue looking for his youngest brother, but the gang looked extremely out of it. They were all exhausted and devastated. The search was taxing on them, even more so when they found out what had happened. Chewing on his inner-cheeks, he said, “Come on. Let’s head back. It’s getting dark. We can continue looking for him later.”

They all murmured in agreement, turning around to head back. But Soda stayed put, continuing to lift rubble. The gang turned to stare at him, eyes becoming sadder. They knew how close Soda was to Ponyboy. Even though they were all close to him, Soda’s relationship easily trumped theirs. It even surpassed Johnny’s and his friendship despite them practically being hip to hip with each other.

“Soda, let’s go,” Darry coaxed.

Soda stubbornly shook his head, face twisting together as he yelled out, “No! He’s still out there! He needs help!”

“Soda…” Steve mumbled. He stepped forward towards his best friend. He knew from the very start that Ponyboy was as good as dead. Although he wanted him to be alive as much as the gang did, his logic went against that. He knew that Ponyboy was dead and it hurt him to see Soda be so desperate for something that was hopeless. “Just stop already.”

“He’s out there, Steve. He’s probably so scared right now.”

“No… Soda… He’s not. There’s no way that he could have survived that.”

Steve tried to place a hand on Soda’s shoulder, but it was slapped off. Soda’s voice wavered as he spoke, so much so that it was almost incomprehensible. Tears brimmed his eyes as he glowered at Steve. “He’s alive!”

“He’s dead. We all know it.”

“No, he’s not. Take that back!”

“No. Get real, Soda.” Steve was definitely being too harsh on him, but he felt like he had to. Holding onto Ponyboy was only going to hurt him more.

“I said, take that back!” Soda shoved Steve, something that none of them had seen him do unless they were play-fighting. But this wasn’t play-fighting. The gang gaped at the scene and Steve stared at his best friend with bewilderment. Before Soda could push him again, Dally stepped between the two friends.

“Shit, man, I want him to be alive as well,” Dally interrupted, “but it’s been hours now. Even if he did survive that tornado, he would have died from his injuries.”

There was a long pause as Soda tried to process what was just said to him, but he didn’t want to believe it. How could he believe it? Ponyboy was just smiling at him a few hours ago. He was alive and breathing, skin radiating warmth. He couldn’t be dead. Especially not after their parents’ deaths. It wouldn’t be fair. But he knew that he was being unreasonable. One by one, he looked everybody in the eyes, seeing the same hopelessness in each of them. “Do all of you think that?”

There were mumbles and nods from the gang and Soda felt his heart sink to his stomach. His chest was icy cold as he started to sob right then and there. His sobs shook the gang to their bones. The last time that he had cried was at his parents’ funeral. They almost never expected him to break down because of his happy-go-lucky nature. So, seeing him cry was disturbing, to say the least.

“Well, you’re all wrong!” Soda shot back. “He’s alive. He’s still out there! He’s—”

He choked on his words, sinking to his knees. He probably was cutting them with how much glass there was on the road, but he didn’t care. _He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead. Ponyboy had to be alive! He had to be._ Suddenly, arms wrapped around him, causing his body to go stiff, but he relaxed when he saw that it was Darry.

“He’s alive,” Darry soothed, hugging Soda tightly. He didn’t believe his words. Like the gang, he had his doubts on Ponyboy being alive. However, Soda wasn’t going to believe them unless they had visual proof. He looked at the gang for help, and they quickly understood his unspoken message. “We’re going to find him.”

“We’re going to get him back,” Johnny confirmed.

“He’ll be back with us before you know it,” Two-Bit affirmed.

“We’ll find him,” Dally added.

“Yeah… I’m sure he’s fine. That kid is hard to get rid of,” Steve muttered, scratching his temple. “Sorry about that. He’s alive. We just have to find him.”

“But let’s continue searching tomorrow,” Darry suggested. “It’s too dark now.”

Soda was reluctant. What if something happened to Ponyboy while he was resting? He chewed at his bottom lip until it started to bleed. He couldn’t take that chance. Soda shook his head.

“I’m going to look for a bit longer,” he declared, starting to walk away from the gang. “If you’re going to help me, then you can come with me.”

“Wait, Soda,” Darry sighed. He should have known that Soda was going to continue searching regardless of what they said to him. But if he was so insistent, then he should be as well. “I’m going to help look for him too.”

Soda gave him a small, appreciative smile. The two of them turned to the gang, silently asking if they wanted to help as well.

“Who would we be if we left you by your lonesome,” Two-Bit uttered, earning hums of agreement from the rest of the gang. They started to search again, despite not being able to see well. They were going to find Ponyboy. Soda was sure of that.

* * *

* * *

To say that Samuel was lost was an understatement. He didn’t know what to do, despite him sounding so confident earlier. The more that he tried to figure it out, the more he was confused. His head was screaming from thinking too much as if it were bashed with a sledgehammer. How was he supposed to help Ponyboy when he didn’t understand the situation himself? None of the games that he had played or the movies that he had watched prepared him for this situation.

He side-glanced at Ponyboy, seeing how still and quiet he was in the passenger’s seat of the car. The younger boy was scratching at an old scab that was on his thumb as he looked out the window. His eyes were glossed over in exhaustion. He went through a lot in the past few hours, Samuel mused. Going through a tornado, waking up in the future, being lost and overwhelmed by all of the changes, then finding his picture as a memoriam in a yearbook… Samuel couldn’t imagine how tired he would be if he was in that situation.

 _Say something_ , a voice in his head hissed at him. _Say anything_.

But his brain ran blank. What was he supposed to say? Samuel wasn’t an extrovert who was an amazing conversationalist. He was a mildly, awkward teenager who had spent way too many hours of his life locked up inside of his room. He loved being able to spend days without needing to speak to anybody, but he was envious of extroverts and their ability to effortlessly socialize without hitting a wall.

“Are you hungry?” Samuel forced out, voice sounding like it wasn’t his own. “We can get something to eat.”

Ponyboy snapped his head over to Samuel, sort of jumping in his seat as if he had forgotten that he wasn’t alone.

“Yeah, that would be great,” Ponyboy answered. He wasn’t actually hungry. Queasy was a better word to describe it. However, he knew that he hadn’t eaten anything since the morning and he didn’t know when his next meal was going to be.

“What do you want to eat?” Samuel asked. “It’ll be on me.”

“How about…” Ponyboy looked back out the window to see his options. From where they were, he could see the golden arches of a McDonalds, although it was slightly different looking. But the logo was recognizable, nonetheless. “McDonald's.”

Samuel’s face scrunched up in disgust at his choice. “Pick again.”

“What’s wrong with McDonald's?”

“If your stomach was upset before, then you’re definitely going to feel bad after eating there.” He paused in thought. “I will say that they do have really good chicken nuggets though. That and their fries. Chick-fil-A has great chicken nuggets too.”

“You sure like chicken nuggets.”

“They make the world go round.”

They ended up going to McDonald's, anyway, picking up Chicken McNuggets and a Pepsi for Ponyboy. Samuel tried to ask for ice cream in the drive-thru, but they told him that the machine was “broken”, much to his bitter dismay.

“It’s not broken,” Samuel grumbled as he shoved a chicken nugget into his mouth. Ponyboy meanwhile sipped at his Pepsi. He wasn’t thinking about the supposedly broken ice cream machine at all. Instead, he felt terrible about Samuel buying him food after one look at the prices. Golly, they were high. He was used to food being a couple of cents not a few dollars per box. He didn’t know why McDonald's was selling their food for that much. They were crazy.

“Oh, hey, can you take the receipt out of the bag and hand it to me?” Samuel randomly asked. Ponyboy did just that. When he did, Samuel stuffed it inside his pocket. “I need to add it to my book.”

“What book?” Ponyboy asked, intrigued. Samuel didn’t come off to him as a writer. But, then again, he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. “What’s it about?”

“It a book filled with all of my past receipts telling the story about why I’m broke.”

It was supposed to be a joke. But, man, did that make Ponyboy feel bad.

“I don’t have money to pay you back,” Ponyboy mumbled, pressing the buttons that were on the cup lid down.

“I told you not to worry about it.” Samuel waved it off.

“But it was so expensive, and you’re broke.”

Samuel’s mouth turned into an ‘O’ as he realized what Ponyboy was talking about. “That’s normal now. Prices rose but so did minimum wage. I haven’t worked a day in my life, but I’m not totally broke like I said. It’s just something that I tell myself to not compulsively spend the money that I have. Don’t worry about it, seriously.”

They continued to drive. It was only when Ponyboy had one nugget left did he ask, “Where are we going anyway?”

“My place so I can start researching. There’s a lot of—” Samuel’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” Ponyboy knitted his eyebrows together.

“Where are you supposed to stay? It’s going to take time to figure things out. I didn’t think about it…”

“Can’t I just stay with you?”

Samuel shook his head. “I would do it, but it’s up to my parents. I can’t tell them that you’re a time traveler and need a place to stay.”

Ponyboy felt horrible that he had to keep relying on Samuel to the point where it was troubling him. He kept doing all of this stuff for him even though he didn’t have to. It meant a lot, but it also made Ponyboy want to sink into himself. “Oh.”

“You can probably get away with staying over one night… but that’s not enough time.” The car stopped in front of Samuel’s house. None of them moved though, trying to figure out what to do. Eventually, Samuel suggested a terrible idea that ended up turning out well for him in the end. “You’re going to have to sneak in. We just won’t tell my parents that you’re staying here.”

That was how Ponyboy found himself climbing up to the second story window of Samuel’s house. He stepped onto the windowsill after climbing a tree, swinging his legs over the other side.

“Take your shoes off **,”** Samuel warned before he could land inside the bedroom. Nodding, Ponyboy took off his shoes and slid inside the room. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. The bedroom looked pretty standard. There was a bed that was pressed against the wall, a desk covered in stuff that he couldn’t identify, a closet, and a bunch of plants that were scattered around. By a ‘bunch’, he meant a ton. They were everywhere. They were even a few that were hanging from the ceiling. Ponyboy gawked at them, something that didn’t go unnoticed.

“You know,” Samuel awkwardly started, rubbing his wrist. “I always wanted to be like those hanging plants.”

“Why? Because you want to grow?” Ponyboy offered, blinking heavily.

“They’re hanging from the ceiling.”

Ponyboy choked, totally caught off-guard. He snapped his attention to Samuel in surprise and panic. Samuel wanted to take his own life? Pony’s stomach turned uneasily. He remembered all of the times that Johnny told him about wanting to end his own life. It was scary to hear that, knowing that his own words could potentially save a life or push them over the cliff. “Are you doing okay? Do you want to talk about it?”

“Oh, no,” Samuel giggled, shaking his head. “I was joking… mostly.”

“Why would you joke about dying?” Ponyboy was flabbergasted, mouth open wide. That was messed up—joking about suicide like that. What was he? Some sort of nihilist?

“I use humor to deal with my,” Samuel snapped his fingers before pointing at Ponyboy, “crippling depression.”

“But doesn’t it hurt to joke like that?”

“It’s okay. I’m already dead on the inside.” That only made Ponyboy more concerned. He pursed his lips so tightly that they turned white. “Seriously, I’m fine.”

“If you say so…” Ponyboy wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t want to go into a territory Samuel didn’t want him to be in. He continued to look around the room, seeing a giant rainbow tapestry on the wall. Why a guy would have that on his wall was beyond him.

Samuel must have seen him staring again because he explained, “That’s the pride flag.”

“The pride flag?” Ponyboy confusedly murmured.

“Yeah, it’s for the LGBTQ community. That and for allies.” He hesitated, flickering his eyes towards Ponyboy as if he were nervous about how he was going to react to the explanation. “LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.”

It took a long time for Ponyboy to connect the dots on what Samuel had just said to him. When he did realize it, his eyes widened as his breath hitched. Was he… No, right? Not wanting to assume anything, Ponyboy asked, “Are you… You know…”

“I’m gay,” Samuel bluntly confessed after a long silence.

Ponyboy didn’t know how to react to that. Samuel was gay? He was queer? The familiar words sounded foreign even in his own mind. It had been drilled into him that a male and a woman should be together. It was natural and opposite-sex couples had the ability to create offspring. Ponyboy was taught that being homosexual was dirty and sinful. It was a mental illness. He was told that gay people were lustful and would try to touch him inappropriately if he got too close to them. However, Samuel didn’t seem like the type of person to do that. He was one of the kindest people that he had ever met. Ponyboy should have been disgusted. That was what he was told he had to feel, anyway. What he did feel, though, was confused.

“Is that going to be alright?” Samuel quietly asked. His voice was small and slightly wavering with worry. It was just like when they first met. Although he had been open about it, he couldn’t help but be nervous and scared.

Ponyboy wasn’t sure how to answer that. He wanted it to be alright. However, after years of being told otherwise, he doubted what he wanted. So, he indirectly answered, “I’ve never met someone who… liked other guys.” At least to his knowledge. People didn’t tell anybody if they were gay for a good reason back in his time period. “I was told that homosexual couples weren’t supposed to be together.”

He was half expecting for Samuel to explode on him. However, he only had a serious look on his face. It was so strong that it made Ponyboy shiver. Samuel was nodding as he listened, soaking it all in like a sponge. He made sure to speak calmly almost like he was talking to a child. “You do know that love has no gender, right? I… We can’t choose what gender we like. We aren’t defective or disgusting. I understand that you were told differently in your time, but it’s just not true.”

“I’m beginning to think that it was all wrong.” Ponyboy shoved his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet. “I was taught that homosexual males would try to touch me, but you don’t seem like you would do that…”

“Because I wouldn’t. I may be gay, but I am _not_ a rapist. I promise you that I wouldn’t do that to you or anybody, but if I ever make you uncomfortable in any way, tell me.” Ponyboy nodded appreciatively at that. He smiled brightly at Samuel so much that his eyes started to close into small crescents. His smile was infectious, making Samuel feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. He mirrored the expression. “So, are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” And he really meant it. Ponyboy trusted Samuel, despite only meeting him a few hours ago. Why did love have to belong to one category? Love was love. There was no specific gender that was written down in its definition. Besides, if someone truly loved another, why was that wrong? This thought actually felt right and made him feel warm in his chest. Whenever he was told in the past about “faggots deserving to burn in hell for their sins” and such, he had always felt a pit in his stomach. There was an underlying sense of dread that had always washed over him. There was a lot that he had to learn to replace his previous knowledge—stuff he had to learn about Samuel in particular. “So, what made you realize that you were gay?”

Samuel hummed, trying to figure out what to say. “I guess… I never really understood what the big deal with girls was. Sure, they were pretty and all, but I never felt attracted to them. I thought that it would come with age and I even tried dating girls before. It never felt right. I still didn’t feel any bit aroused towards them. But I always looked at other guys differently, even as a kid. I used to have a male friend that made me feel strange inside. He wasn’t gay, but whenever he had a girlfriend, I remember feeling so jealous of the girl. It made me realize that I wanted what they had. I wanted to hold his hand and to kiss him all over.”

“Finding out that you were gay must have been scary.”

“A bit. You know, gay rights and acceptance has changed quite a bit. It’s legalized in every state and it’s just… normal now. People are a lot more accepting of it, although there are still bad apples in the bunch. We can walk around without fear. I love it.”

That was amazing. Ponyboy couldn’t help but smile real wide at it. “And your parents… Are they fine with you being gay?”

“Yeah. I’m very fortunate about that. They were skeptical at first. It wasn’t my parent’s idealized life, but they knew that I couldn’t change that about me.” Samuel, not wanting to talk about himself for too long, shifted gears. “Anyway, what about you?”

“Me?” A blush bloomed across Ponyboy’s face. What did he mean by that? Did he think that he was gay? He was going to stammer out that he wasn’t, but he thought about the question more as well as what Samuel had said about his own experiences on finding out his sexuality. He had never felt attracted to a girl, only thinking that they were pretty but always wore too much makeup. He waited for the day that he would get them like the rest of the gang did. He remembered that he once accidentally found a stack of pornographic magazines that Two-Bit had swiped. Instead of feeling “hot and bothered” as he was told he was supposed to feel, he felt only embarrassed of the discovery and nothing else. The gang had always teased him about finding a girl, but he never felt the urge to do so. He remembered, though, looking at other guys and drawing pictures of them because of how striking they were. It was always males and never females. But that didn’t mean that he was gay, right? He just preferred to draw men over women. That had to be it. There was no way that he was gay.

“Did you have a girlfriend?”

Oh. The blush deepened in embarrassment at the misinterpretation. “No, I didn’t find anybody that I liked.”

The conversation died off after that. The exhaustion hit Ponyboy like a train. Samuel was tired as well, deciding to hit they hay early that night. It was weird to sleep in a new house, Ponyboy found. He squirmed in the sleeping bag that was provided for him, staring up at the ceiling which was covered in stars that glowed green in the dark. His wet hair from the shower that he took a half an hour earlier pressed against his forehead, keeping him cool. Involuntarily, he felt tears well up in his eyes, but he held it in, to the best of his ability. Samuel was sleeping soundly on the bed and he didn’t want to wake him up. He didn’t know when, but, eventually, he fell asleep.

* * *

* * *

That night, Ponyboy had a nightmare. It was the first nightmare that he had in a while that wasn’t about his parent’s deaths.

_In the dream, he was standing in the middle of the street; the green sky was covered in a veil of sharp storm clouds. Ponyboy looked around the rubble-coated streets, breath hitching in his throat at the destruction that was left behind. There was a loud roar that caused the ground to rumble beneath his feet like an earthquake. Suddenly, he felt his body be lifted from the ground, being pulled up by a familiar tornado that appeared out of thin air. He flipped around, screaming his lungs out, as the tornado spun him like crazy. His body went higher and higher until the houses looked like pebbles beneath him, making him even dizzier than he was originally._

_“Help!” he pleaded to no one in particular, but the roar drowned out his voice._

_But as fast as the tornado started, it ended. It dissipated, making him plummet back towards the ground at a frightening speed. Ponyboy must have been screaming his head off that entire fall down, trying to grab ahold of something even though there was nothing around him. His stomach flipped violently, threatening to spill out any food that he had in his stomach, but it didn’t matter anyway. The ground came rushing at him as he crashed into a pile of rubble. Everything went black besides the light that peeked through the cracks between the wood planks._

_The fall didn’t hurt, much to his shock, but it stunned him. Ponyboy tried to get up, but it seemed like his body was being constructed by a snake, trapping him like a guy in a coffin._

_“Help, somebody!” he screeched, squirming to get free but his body still wouldn’t move an inch. He was trapped. The rubble seemed like it was collapsing on him, even though it wasn’t moving. It closed in on him, crushing him._

_But then a plank above him was lifted up and soon another until he could see the gang staring down at him with blank expressions._

_“Help me,” Ponyboy begged, but the gang only stared at him without moving an inch, much to his confusion. Why weren’t they trying to help him?_

_It was like watching a movie. Their faces morphed before his eyes to be like a Pierrot frowning. It resembled sadness, but it didn’t look right at all. Their expressions were twisted and empty. Soda reached down, placing a single rose onto his chest. Then Darry did the same thing, followed by the rest of the gang._

_“I’m going to miss him,” Soda mumbled, hugging Darry. Miss him? He was right there._

_“Me too, buddy,” Darry replied, burrowing his face in Soda’s greasy hair. “He was too young.”_

_“Why couldn’t it have been me that died?” Johnny softly asked, lips wobbling. Died? He wasn’t dead._

_“Don’t say that. He didn’t deserve to die, and you don’t either,” Dally interjected._

_“I’m not dead! I’m right here!” Ponyboy exclaimed, but none of them heard him. Ponyboy, again, tried to sit up, which he noticed wasn’t rubble anymore. He was lying in his own wooden coffin. A chill ran down his spine. “I’m not dead! Guys, I’m alive!”_

_“We should close the lid now,” Steve brought up, placing his hand on Soda’s shoulder to comfort him._

_“Yeah, it hurts to stare at him,” Two-Bit added, the blank eyes boring into him. The gang nodded, reaching forward to close the coffin lid._

_“No! I’m alive! Stop!” Ponyboy cried out, but they didn’t hear him. The lid closed, engulfing him in darkness._

* * *

* * *

Ponyboy’s eyes snapped open as he let out a bloodcurdling scream. Something or someone was holding him tightly, constricting him like how he was in the coffin. Instinctively, he struggled, unable to see who was holding him through his clouded vision. He wormed and kicked, squeezing his eyes tightly together. The arms around him only got tighter.

“Ponyboy, calm down!” a familiar voice pleaded as he continued to struggle, tears now falling from his eyes. “You’re fine. Just breathe.”

As soon as he spoke, Ponyboy blinked away the blurriness. Samuel was leaning over him, skin shaded purple from the strips of light that outlined the ceiling of the bedroom. Ponyboy let out a sigh of relief when he regained his bearings, relaxing his body in Samuel’s hold, now realizing that he was practically sitting in his lap as well. He would have been embarrassed about it, but he was too exhausted to really react or move in that matter.

“You were having a nightmare,” Samuel softly pointed out, wide awake from being spooked so badly.

“Sorry, I woke you up,” Ponyboy apologized with a hoarse voice, digging his thumbs into his eyes.

“No, it’s alright. Do you have nightmares often?”

Ponyboy nodded but didn’t go more into it. He didn’t want to. “Yeah. They’ve gotten real bad.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He didn’t. Ponyboy sniffled, shaking his head. “How long was I screaming?”

“Not that long. At most a minute.”

At that moment, the door slammed open and Mr. Lee and a woman, who Ponyboy assumed was his wife, barged inside. Samuel instantly went pale, which was somehow visible with the colored lights. He cursed under his breath, gripping Ponyboy’s shirt tightly.

It took a moment for the two parents to scan over what they had walked in on. Mr. Lee, being as terrifying as he was, glared daggers at Ponyboy who found it in himself to scramble away from Samuel.

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Lee demanded with a low voice.

“Dad!” Samuel exclaimed in shock. His body went stiff and his eyes grew wide like a deer trapped in headlights. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“Really? Because it looks like you snuck someone in.”

Samuel faltered. “Okay, it’s exactly what it looks like, but we weren’t doing anything! There’s a reason why he’s here!”

“A reason?” Mrs. Lee finally spoke up. Her voice was calmer than her husband’s, but it still held a thick layer of strain to it. She eyed Ponyboy, wanting to get to the bottom of the mess before it got out of hand. “Samuel, can we speak to you alone?”

“But Ponyboy just woke up from a bad nightmare and—”

“Now!”

Samuel violently flinched, nodding his head. He glanced at Ponyboy, giving him an apologetic look. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”

When the three family members were gone. Ponyboy pressed his back against the wall, digging his head between his knees. He could hear the family screaming at Samuel. He couldn’t make out much, realizing that they were shifting between two different languages. Ponyboy continued to sob, still shaken up from his nightmare. After a long argument, loud footsteps approached the bedroom.

“Hey, good news. My parents are letting you stay for the night, but they want to talk to you tomorrow,” Samuel informed him right as he opened the door. During the argument, he seemed to have forgotten about Ponyboy’s nightmare. His eyes quickly scanned the room, seeing Ponyboy huddled against the wall with shaking shoulders. Everything came rushing back to him.

Samuel calmly walked over, sliding down the wall to sit next to Ponyboy. He was so close to him that their shoulders were pressing together. He didn’t move or speak for a long time, not sure of what he was supposed to do or say. Ponyboy didn’t want to talk about the nightmare to him, which was fine and all, but he didn’t know how to comfort him as a result. So, he did the next best thing that he could think of. Samuel pulled out his phone and grabbed his earphones from the nightstand.

“Hold out your hand,” he instructed. Ponyboy did as he was told, holding out his hand. Samuel dropped the earbuds into his sweaty palms, allowing him to examine the two small objects with confusion blown on his face. “Put them in your ear.”

“What are these?” Ponyboy asked, sniffing again. He swiped his nose with his other arm, disgustingly smearing snot on it.

“Earphones. They’re like… They’re like small speakers for just your ears. Here, give them back for a second.”

Ponyboy did and Samuel separated the two earbuds in both of his hands. He reached up towards Pony’s face, gently caressing his cheeks. He leaned closer to him, causing the young greaser’s eyes to widen. His face flushed as his heart sped up to a rapid speed. What? What was he doing? Ponyboy leaned back a bit, but he couldn’t go that far. Their faces were close to each other, breaths mixing together. But it ended all too soon. The earphones were gently pressed into his ears and Samuel pulled away, pressing their sides back together. Ponyboy let out a sigh of relief (or maybe it was disappointment), feeling his heart calm down some.

Samuel opened up his phone and soon music started to quietly play from the earbuds. He couldn’t hear it but he from the look on Ponyboy’s shocked face, he knew that the music was playing. It was a soft song—a ballad. It wasn’t anything that Ponyboy had ever listened to. His body relaxed, nonetheless, steadily releasing his breaths.

“Just focus on the song,” Samuel murmured.

He probably listened to a few songs before his eyes closed. Without knowing it, Ponyboy learned his head on Samuel’s shoulder, earbud pressing into his ear awkwardly. Exhaustion came over him again, and soon he fell asleep like that.


	5. My Darling, You Look Ravishing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ponyboy talks about why he needs a place to stay before getting a makeover of a lifetime. All of this work to find the gang in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Geekish Fangirl for suggesting YouTube, and sadlonleyyogurt for suggesting Vines.

Ponyboy was not looking forward to the morning. He woke up with a stiff neck and an ache in his back. Bright light shone from the small window, blinding his sensitive eyes. He shot his hands up to cover his face to block the sun rays, shivering as the morning chill nipped his toes. Ponyboy groaned, wanting nothing more than to curl back up in a ball and fall asleep again. Shifting in his spot, however, made him quite aware of his full bladder. He removed his hands from his face, squinting at the room that he was in. It took a long moment for him to realize that he was in Samuel’s room. He had wished that him coming to the future was just a terrible nightmare; that he would wake up with Soda’s heavy arm draped over his chest and his body being forced to the edge of the bed to accommodate his brother’s starfish position. But there was no bed and no Soda. Ponyboy was lying on the floor, instead. He must have been moved when he was asleep. There was a thin blanket covering him. Although, it did almost nothing against the morning temperatures.

In the bed, Samuel was awake. He was looking at that device again, not noticing that he was awake yet. It looked like he was reading minuscule words on it, but they were too small to make out.

“What are you reading?” Ponyboy croaked, sitting up and yawning. Samuel jumped, painfully dropping the device on his face.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Samuel said, rubbing at his now sore nose. “I was just… reading a… story.”

Ponyboy was about to ask what it was about but decided on a new question altogether. He rubbed his tongue on the roof of his mouth, feeling how dry it was. He really needed a glass of water. “How long have you been awake?”

“A few hours.”

That caught him by surprise, fully waking him up. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Samuel shrugged, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “You looked like you needed as much sleep as you could get.”

“Oh… Thanks…” He really did need that sleep. It felt like he hadn’t slept in days until then.

“Anyway, now that you’re awake, are you ready to go down and talk to my parents?” Samuel asked, stretching his limbs. Ponyboy wasn’t, but he didn’t really have much of a choice. He was going to have to face this sooner or later. He nodded, getting up to his feet as well.

There was no breakfast being made when they got to the marble countered kitchen. There were no brothers frying eggs. There was just the smell of the crisp breeze and there was this quiet awkwardness that left the house feeling heavy. He guessed that the only thing that he was going to taste that morning was his stale morning breath. In the kitchen, Samuel’s mom was sitting at the breakfast table, working on a one-thousand-piece lighthouse puzzle. Pieces were scattered around the table, leaving no room for anything other than the vase in the center. There wasn’t even enough room for the mug that was using a grouping of the pieces as a coaster. Mrs. Lee glanced up when they crept over to her.

“Good morning, boys,” she greeted, taking a sip of her decaf coffee. The smell was a lot stronger up close to it. “How’d you sleep?”

“Fine,” Samuel briefly answered. He sat down at the table and Ponyboy slid in the seat next to him.

“Want me to make you boys anything?”

“No.” The word was tense and grumpy. Samuel’s mood had drastically shifted when they started to talk to Mrs. Lee. It made Ponyboy wonder if there was tension between the mom and him. But maybe Samuel didn’t like to talk to his parents. Ponyboy personally had wonderful parents, but he knew people who didn’t have great ones. His entire neighborhood was notorious for it. He was really lucky in that way. He couldn’t imagine having a rough relationship with his parents. “Where’s dad?”

“He went to work. He was called in early today. It was some emergency.”

Samuel visibly relaxed. He leaned back against his chair, letting out a breath that he had been holding in. Ponyboy relaxed too. In the time that he knew Mr. Lee, he already didn’t like him. He was too intense. There was something quite threatening about him that brought shivers down his spine.

“So, care to explain to me why you snuck him in, again?” Mrs. Lee asked Samuel, eyeing him suspiciously.

“He needed a place to stay,” Samuel answered, trying to beat around the bush as much as possible.

“And why would that be? Why couldn’t he stay at his own house?”

This time, she was talking to Ponyboy, who shifted in his seat uncomfortably. His fingers curled around the bottom of his seat by his thighs, tapping the slab of wood in an unrecognizable song. He wondered if he should lie. He was great at it, but Mrs. Lee was staring into his soul. He had a feeling that she would identify any lie that he told. But maybe not, he probably would never be sure.

“My parents are dead,” he truthfully muttered, now scratching at his seat with his dulled down nails. He could feel Samuel stare at him intensely, soaking in what he was saying.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mrs. Lee sympathetically said, but eager to learn more. She was probably going to gossip to her friends about him. “Can you tell me how it happened?”

“An auto wreck.”

“Are you staying with your relatives?”

“My brothers.”

“Where are they now?”

They’re probably dead or enjoying retirement, he almost blubbered out. His stomach turned uneasily. He was glad that he wasn’t eating breakfast when she was throwing a volley of questions at him. He probably would have wasted it. “I don’t know.”

“They went on vacation somewhere and left him behind to continue school. They didn’t tell him where they were going,” Samuel answered to back him up, which made Ponyboy wonder if he could have lied anyway. “He doesn’t like being home alone… so I asked him if he wanted to stay here until they come back.”

“I see.” Mrs. Lee said, clearing her throat. She nodded, finishing up her coffee. “Next time, please ask us before sneaking random people in.”

“He’s not random. He goes to the same school as me. We sit together during lunch.”

“You’ve never told me about him before.”

Samuel pressed his lips together. He ignored what she just said, just wanting to go back to his room. “So, it’s alright that he stays?”

She nodded, although reluctantly. She turned back to Ponyboy. “How long do you think they’ll be gone?”

“I don’t know,” Ponyboy answered. “Hopefully, not longer than a month.”

“You’re welcomed to stay in the guest bedroom…” She turned back to Samuel. “I’ll talk to your father about this…”

There was a pause before she continued, “Oh, and Samuel? Your car is currently getting a new tire. It’ll be back later today.”

“Thanks,” Samuel said, grabbing Ponyboy by the wrist and yanking him away from the table and back to his bedroom. When they got back inside, Samuel crashed onto his desk’s seat, letting out a long, overdramatic sigh. It took a long moment for Ponyboy to say anything.

“Do… you not get along with you mom?” he asked, leaning against the edge of the desk.

“It’s on and off,” Samuel hummed. “I don’t know… It’s really random. Sometimes, I just can’t stand her. Do you ever feel like that? Like you could be going through your day feeling fine, but as soon as a parent comes into the room, you instantly roll your eyes? There’s no reason to feel irritated, but you do?”

With Darry, yeah, he had felt like that. He figured that it was because he was always breathing down his neck about everything. Ponyboy always expected there to be an argument between them. He never really got along too well with him after his parents had died. Darry grew up too fast and it wasn’t like he could read a manual about effectively taking care of his brothers. But still, Ponyboy couldn’t stand Darry most of the time. “My parents are dead.”

Samuel’s eyes widened as he shot up in panic. “Shit! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mention that.”

“It’s fine,” Ponyboy reassured, shaking his head. “But it gets that way with my eldest brother, Darry.”

Another hum left Samuel’s mouth as his eyes shifted to the contents on his desk. An idea passed through his head as he reached over to press a button. “I got an idea. Let’s go find your brothers.”

Ponyboy perked up at that, getting off the desk to give Samuel his full attention. “How are we going to do that? I didn’t see a landline or a phonebooth in the house.”

“We’re going to look online for them.”

“On… the line?” Ponyboy scrunched his eyebrows together, tilting his head to the side.

“Online,” Samuel corrected. “The internet… It’s hard to explain, but it’s basically everything. You can use the internet to shop, watch movies and videos, play games, talk to people, play music, catch up on the news, read books, write, have any questions answered… You name it.”

All of that in such a small device? Was that even possible? He almost wanted to challenge it. There was no way something that thin could fit all of those functions inside of it. The screen, which was as thin as Ponyboy’s pinky finger, flashed colors as it started up. He pointed to it. “All in that?”

“It’s all around us.”

“And what is that?”

“This is a computer…” Samuel licked his lips. “Well, it’s a laptop. It’s portable. I can take it anywhere.”

“It looks like a real thin TV mixed with a typewriter.”

“That’s one way to describe it.” He lightly chuckled—a sound, although hardly there, that made Ponyboy’s heart skip a beat. “Let’s start looking.”

Samuel started typing away on the keyboard. His fingers moved so fast that it was hard to follow them. His eyes stayed glued to the screen, not even taking a glance to where his fingers were moving. It was like he had memorized the placement of the keys. Ponyboy remembered all of the times that he got to use a typewriter, which wasn’t often enough. His fingers moved slowly and cautiously, scared to make a mistake. Whenever Samuel made a mistake, he would erase it and continue without wasting more than five seconds. He kept muttering something about how boomers were always on Facebook and that he had to get an account for it.

“Who do you want to find first?” he asked.

“Uh…” Ponyboy started. There was no doubt in his mind on who he wanted to talk to first. “Soda… Sodapop Curtis.”

A smile crept itself on Samuel’s face. His eyes twinkled when he turned to Pony. “Ponyboy and Sodapop… Unique names.”

Ponyboy shrugged, not able to keep himself from smiling himself. “My dad was an original person.”

Giving him one last smile, Samuel turned back to his screen. It didn’t take long to find Soda, with a name like his.

“Oh, thank god,” Samuel breathed out in relief. “He lives in a retirement home.”

“And that is good, how?” Ponyboy wondered.

“I don’t have to message him.”

“Is that all?”

“He shared what retirement home he’s living in, which means we can easily find him… and probably the rest of your friends. What were their names?”

Ponyboy listed off everybody’s name. Apparently, they were all added as “friends” on Facebook. But, when it came to residency, it was a total bust. The only other addresses that they were able to find was Steve’s, who was in the same retirement home, and Darry’s, who was in a hospital. After hearing where Darry was, Ponyboy’s heart dropped. He hoped that it wasn’t anything serious.

When Samuel wrote down the addresses of the hospital and the retirement home, he stood up to get ready to head out. But, before he did that, he gave Ponyboy a once-over.

“Hm…” he hummed.

“What?” Ponyboy asked, shifting under the stare.

“You need to blend in before we head out. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb.” It was true. He did stick out, looking like an actor from a movie about greasers. He probably just needed to change into different clothes, but, apparently, Samuel wanted to take it a step further. “We should cut your hair.”

At the suggestion, Ponyboy instantly shot his hands up to cover his hair, totally aghast. “Not my hair. You can change how I look but don’t touch my hair.”

“ _Please_. I always wanted to cut someone’s hair,” Samuel whined, giving him a puppy dog look—that kind of look that was overdramatized. He pouted really big, lips quivering, and eyelids slanting in a way that looked like he was about to cry. But Ponyboy knew better. After all, he had mastered the look himself and Samuel’s (not that he should brag) was quite pathetic in comparison. He was not going to fall for it. _He was not_. Ponyboy would not be peer pressured into cutting his pride and joy. He was not going to do it. “It’ll only be a trim.”

“What’s wrong with my hair right now?”

Samuel started to backpedal. “Nothing! It actually looks really nice on you.”

“Then what’s the big problem?” It came out like a snap. He didn’t mean it to be like that, but it just did.

“There isn’t a problem,” Samuel reassured, mouth twitching into a frown. Panic and hurt crossed over his face before they were covered up so quickly that Ponyboy thought that he had imagined it. “Sorry…”

Ponyboy groaned. Now he was going to feel bad. “Why do you want to cut it so badly anyway?”

“I just think it would look nice in this one style that I’m thinking of.” There was a short pause as a small blush came to his cheeks. “Also, when it comes to long hair like yours—it isn’t even that long—you would either look like a skater or a L'Oréal model. There is no in-between. You make it work though.”

“Oh, thanks,” Ponyboy bashfully said, subconsciously touching his hair. “You really want to cut my hair?”

Samuel nodded enthusiastically. Sighing, Ponyboy finally gave in. He shot him a pointed look. “Only a trim.”

A cheer left Samuel’s mouth as he dragged him to the bathroom. Ponyboy was already regretting his decision. He sat down on the cool floor as Samuel went to grab everything that he needed. When he came back, he sprayed his hair with a spray bottle that he used to water his plants.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Ponyboy nervously asked, licking his dry lips.

“Yeah, I watched a YouTube tutorial on it. This is the first time I’m ever doing it though,” Samuel mindlessly answered, looking at his hair at all angles to be able to see how he wanted the hairstyle to turn out.

That sure wasn’t very reassuring. “What’s YouTube?”

Samuel paused for a second when he picked up his crafts scissor. He clicked his tongue. “Uh… It’s a video streaming platform. Here, you can watch some iconic Vines on YouTube while I cut your hair. You’ll find Vine references everywhere, so study up.”

“You better not cut it too short,” Ponyboy emphasized. He grabbed the device that Samuel passed him. He turned it over in his hands. Like the laptop, it was just as thin—maybe even thinner—than his smallest finger. The screen reflected the light of the bathroom, casting a white gleam over it. Samuel is always using it, practically treating it like a baby with how gentle he was with it. “What is this?”

“My phone?” Samuel said in a way as if he was startled by the question. He had to quickly remind himself that Ponyboy was from the past and didn’t know what a smartphone was. It was so weird to have someone from the past right in front of him. It was a concept that was hard to swallow. He combed through Ponyboy’s semi-long hair, relishing in the silky feeling of it. A small smile crept on his lip when he noticed the younger teen relax into the touch.

“ _This is a phone_?” Ponyboy gaped, turning the lightweight device in his hands again. There was no way. It was just a screen. There were only a few buttons on the side. How were you even supposed to use it? “Where are the wires and buttons?”

“There aren’t wires on phones anymore. It’s portable. It can be brought anywhere. And it’s touchscreen so you can dial numbers by pressing the screen.”

Ponyboy examined the phone incredulously. Long phone wires to move across the room was a luxury that only Socs had back in his time. And that was only the wire connected to the wall. It could only be brought out as far as the yard. He never actually got the see one. They were that luxurious. He always wanted to try it—not that he had many people to talk to on the phone for long hours. If he wanted to use a phone out in public, he would have to use a payphone which was very inconvenient. So, this was a phone…

“I can call anywhere?” Ponyboy questioned.

“As long as you have a signal, which you probably won’t have to worry about. You can get a signal about anywhere now,” Samuel explained.

“And… it’s private?”

Samuel gave him a strange look from behind him. “Why wouldn’t it be private?”

Shrugging, Ponyboy experimentally pressed a button. It lit up, displaying a picture of a group of friends. He recognized Samuel as one of the figures. The picture faded to black. He asked the question because he was used to using a party line. They didn’t have enough money to have private calls. It was always weird to pick up a phone and hear his neighbor’s conversation with another person on the line. It was even weirder whenever he had to tell them that he had to use the phone and to end the call soon. He didn’t know how many people listened in on his own conversations on top of that. “How do you use this?”

Reaching forward, Samuel turned it on and unlocked it. His chest pressed against Ponyboy’s back, making him blush. He could feel his chest pounding against it, a warmth spreading over him like a blanket. He gulped, butterflies involuntarily flying in his stomach. Samuel pressed something on the screen, writing words using the keyboard that popped up. Soon, a video was stretched across the screen, starting the play an introduction.

“I’m going to start now, okay?” Samuel informed. When Ponyboy nodded, he grabbed the scissors with shaky hands. He continued to comb through the younger teen’s hair with his other hand’s fingers. It felt really nice to the touch. He just hoped that he wasn’t going to mess it up… But who was he kidding? He picked up a bundle of strands and opened the blade up, counting down before snipping it. The hair fluttered to the floor as he picked up another bundle. Maybe he should have watched the tutorials again before doing this.

Meanwhile, Ponyboy was staring at the screen. The videos flashed by in seven seconds, telling a full story or joke within that timeframe.

_‘Roadwork ahead? Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does.’_

The humor didn’t make much sense to him at all. It was random and usually a play on words. There were a bunch of racial stereotypes thrown in. But, overall, he did have a sense that it was supposed to be relatable to the viewers. This plus how short the videos were showed how fast-paced everything was in this time period.

_‘This bitch empty! Yeet!’_

He didn’t get the humor one bit.

* * *

* * *

When his hair was all cut and he was given one of Samuel’s outfits to wear, Ponyboy looked over himself in the mirror. He looked absolutely ridiculous. He touched his hair which was a bit shorter (thank goodness it wasn’t a lot) than it was before. Instead of combed back, it was more or less pushed forward*. Some product was put in his hair to keep it in place. Samuel said that he would be able to put his hair back to the original style if he wanted to later. The hairstyle totally changed how his face looked, making his jaw more pronounced and his nose thinner. Even the clothes that he was wearing changed the appearance of his body type.

The clothes were uncomfortable, to say the least. His t-shirt, which was oversized on him, was tucked into his jeans that clung to his legs. They probably would have felt tighter if they weren’t a size too big on him, being held up by a belt and cuffed at the ankles. He looked so different that he almost didn’t recognize himself, and he wasn’t sure if he liked that or not.

“You cut my hair too short,” Ponyboy complained, twisting a few strands of his fringe with his fingers. “I look funny.”

“That’s because you’re not used to your appearance yet,” Samuel said, a heavy flush on his face. Ever since Ponyboy had walked out of the bathroom in his new garbs, he could hardly tear his eyes away. He had to distract himself on his laptop to not make it weird. Samuel, wanting to slap his cheeks, had to remind himself that looks weren’t everything. Ponyboy, despite him lacking confidence (and wearing whitey tighties, but he wasn’t going to make a big deal about them), was a very handsome person—even before the transformation as well. He didn’t need to change his appearance at all. Samuel was just curious, and it fed him well. He looked great both ways, but that wasn’t entirely him. It was, but personality makes up a big portion of someone’s attractiveness. Since that was the case, Samuel could honestly say that Ponyboy Curtis was a package. In the one day that he knew him, he could tell what a great person he was. He just needed to learn more about him. “Like, no cap… You look amazing.”

Ponyboy’s heart fluttered, ears turning red. “You… You really think so?”

“I know so.” Samuel had to stop himself from feeling anything towards Ponyboy. It was weird and would only lead himself to heartbreak. Pony wasn’t from the time period, making him a _lot_ older than him. If he wasn’t in a teenage body, it would technically be pedophilia… wouldn’t it? Besides, even if he convinced himself that it was okay, it wasn’t like he would be staying for very long, at least that was what they were hoping for. He was going to have to go back eventually, and even if he did stay in the end—which he wouldn’t do—it didn’t mean that he liked him that way. Forcing his forming crush down, Samuel changed the topic.

“We should go get tattoos now!” Samuel blurted out. He was joking of course, but Ponyboy didn’t know that. The younger male rapidly shook his head.

“If I get a tattoo, I would be skinned alive,” Ponyboy rejected. Samuel would have been too.

“Your loss then. You could have been safe from being eaten by cannibals, just saying.”

“Is there…” Ponyboy swallowed, looking almost disgusted with how his face scrunched up. “Is there a problem with cannibalism here?”

Samuel breathily laughed, reassuring Ponyboy that he was joking. He turned back to his laptop. “No idea. I guess you’ll get to see with that tattoo-less body of yours.”

“What are you even doing?” Ponyboy walked over, looking over Samuel’s shoulder. His breath brushed against his neck, sending shivers down Samuel’s spine. The eucalyptus scented shampoo wafted in each of their noses. It was intoxicating, making them want to lean in to breathe it in more.

“I figured that since you don’t know how long you’re staying, I would enroll you in school**,” Samuel informed, clearing his throat.

“What?” Ponyboy blinked. Him? Enroll in school during this time? He thought that he wouldn’t have to do it while he was there. Even though he loved to go, the thought of being in such a familiar place without any familiar faces made him queasy. “You’re going to enroll me?”

“Yeah. Luckily, they’re doing everything online these days… I can fake your documents and pose as my mom. You can be her illegitimate child. I just hope they don’t try to authenticate the documents.”

“You sound like you’ve been doing this a lot.”

Samuel grimaced. “When you have strict parents, you tend to learn how to be sneaky.”

That was one of the truest statements ever. Ponyboy wasn’t sure about going to school. He wasn’t even sure how long he was going to stay. It was starting to feel like he was never going to go back with how much they were preparing for him to stay long-term. Ponyboy just wanted to go home.

* * *

* * *

By the time that the car was picked up and the photoshopped documents were sent to the school district’s office, it was already evening time. They were back in the car, listening to modern music, if Ponyboy could call it that. Just like everything else, music was different. He wasn’t sure if he liked it, just like how it was with the Vines. It was full of profanities and he couldn’t hear the words. The lyrics were either muffled by the bass and drums, or they were talking so fast that if he tried to mimic it, his lips would run away from him. But still, he soaked it up because maybe he just wasn’t used to it yet and he needed to learn as much as he could.

It didn’t take that long to arrive at the retirement home. He got out the car, pulling at the clothes which had shifted while he was sitting down. He stared at the large building nervously. Somewhere in there was Soda and Steve.

“Aren’t you coming?” he asked when he noticed that Samuel didn’t come out. The other male was staring at the entrance, unmoving.

“Nu-uh,” Samuel said, stiffly shaking his head. “I’m not going in there.”

“Why not?” Ponyboy could use as much support as he could get.

A weird noise left Samuel’s throat as he sunk back in his seat. “I lowkey hate talking to new people.”

“You have no problem talking to me.”

“I got used to you. That’s different.”

“If you say so…” Ponyboy grumbled, chewing on his bottom lip. He really didn’t want to go in there alone.

“I’m really sorry…” Samuel said, looking at his hands in shame.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

With that, he walked inside the building and headed straight to the front desk. Cold sweat slid down his spine as the receptionist looked up at him with a fake smile.

“May I help you?” she routinely asked.

“I’m, uh, here to visit Sodapop Curtis,” Ponyboy said.

“May I ask you what your affiliation is with him?”

“Soda is my…” Ponyboy paused. “…great uncle.”

Nodding, the receptionist had him sign stuff before calling someone to lead him to his brother. He dragged his feet. The smell of acrid piss and chemicals was overwhelming in the less-than-pleasing facility. It definitely was on the lower standards of retirement homes—filled with lonely, elderly people just trying to strike conversations and employees who were speaking to them as if they were babies. He passed by a room where they were celebrating a frowning man’s 100th birthday. He looked miserable celebrating it, eyes dead like he was done with living. Ponyboy hadn’t really thought about being old too much. But seeing them made him not want to live that long, as morbid as that sounded. Being in pain all the time, wearing diapers, having dulled senses, being talked to like he was a child, and being incapable of doing many activities like going to the bathroom correctly wasn’t up his alley. He didn’t think that anyone wanted to go through that. The people here were surviving instead of living and that didn’t settle right.

With each step that Ponyboy took, the more he felt like throwing up. He had been so excited to see Soda (even Steve, who he was sure was with him), but now that he was there, he wasn’t so sure. What was he going to see in there? Suffering elderly people? They were Soda and Steve, but, at the same time, they weren’t. They weren’t going to be the same that he knew them to be. If the guide hadn’t already started to open the door, he would have ran away with his tail between his legs.

“Mr. Curtis, you have a visitor,” the guide informed the people in the room, gesturing Pony inside.

Stiffly, Ponyboy entered, instantly catching sight of the two aged figures in front of him. Soda, he could have recognized from anywhere, was sitting down by the window. His thin hair was as white as snow and had receded quite a bit. Wrinkles made part of his face hang lower and his arms were covered in sunspots. But, despite all of this, he still had that movie star charm to him.

Steve, on the other hand, was thinner. He was no longer built, and dentures shaped his mouth weirdly. His hair was cut short, making his head look like an egg. He was harder to recognize, but Ponyboy did after examining him closely. He was glad that after all of this time, they were still best friends and spending time together. They were ‘goals’ as Samuel had noted when he found out about Steve’s location.

Soda and Steve stared at Ponyboy curiously, no recognition in their eyes at first. It didn’t take long for them to process his familiar appearance even though he looked different with the new style.

“Who are you?” Steve asked first. Hearing his voice almost made Pony cry right then and there.

“You look like him,” Soda suddenly said, leaning forward. His hands were shaking, voice straining so much that it cracked. “Why do you look like my brother?”

“It’s not him…” Steve struggled to go to Soda’s side, putting his wrinkly hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. “I wish it was him, but it’s not.”

“But he looks like him, Steve! How could he look like him?”

Steve whipped his head towards Ponyboy, narrowing his eyes. “Who are you?”

“It’s m—” Ponyboy started to say but clamped his mouth shut. He couldn’t tell them who he was no matter how badly he wanted to do so. He wanted to tell them so badly so they would tell him what he was supposed to do, but he knew that they weren’t going to be able to answer him. It was cruel. They were forced to look at him, the person with the same face as the one who went missing decades ago. They wouldn’t believe him and they would think that he was making fun of their loss. Ponyboy didn’t want to depress them over again.

“My… my name is Michael,” he lied, using his middle name. He forced a smile on his face. It twitched at the corners, trying to revert back to a frown. “I look like Ponyboy because… I’m his grandson.”

That definitely caught the duo off guard. Their eyes widened in confusion, looking at each other for validation that he heard him correctly.

“Grandson?” Steve pressed. “You can’t be his grandson. He died.”

“He went _missing_ ,” Ponyboy corrected. “He’s still alive and well.”

“He’s alive?” Soda squeaked, tears spilling out of his eyes. Ponyboy’s heart squeezed when he saw that and he wanted to run up to him and hug him, but he held himself back. There was pressure under his eyes and he almost cried with him. Despite his tear-streaked cheeks, Soda felt a tremendous amount of relief lift off of his shoulders. “Why didn’t he come home or give us a call?”

Ponyboy pressed his lips together tightly. It was the only thing that he could do to keep him from bawling. “Because by the time that he made his way back, you all gave up on him.”

“I didn’t want to. I looked and looked.” Soda then motioned him closer. “Come here.”

Ponyboy walked over, letting Soda put his shaky hands on his cheeks. “What is it?”

“You look so much like him.”

“I get that a lot.”

“If you’re here and he’s still alive, why didn’t he come with you?” Steve asked, settling himself back down.

“He… He couldn’t make it today, but he wanted me to give you guys a message. He wanted me to tell you that he’s on his way back home He said that you don’t have to wait or be sad for much longer. He’s coming home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (*) Ponyboy’s look is based on pictures of young C. Thomas Howell. You’ll probably know what pictures I’m talking about if you look them up.
> 
> (**) Online enrollment is a thing that schools are doing to be more current with technology. However, only a few school districts have this, and Will Rogers doesn’t have an online enrollment yet. Not that I could find, anyway. It’s probably a lot more difficult than how I made it seem in this chapter. I just needed to advance the plot.


	6. The Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ponyboy sees Darry before finding out what had caused him to get sent to the future.

The three of them ended up talking for hours and Ponyboy was able to learn their life story within that time. He found out that Soda and Steve were both drafted in the Vietnam War. Fortunately for them, they were drafted near the end of it, so they didn’t have as much fighting time as the other soldiers. They still faced the horrors, however. They’ve seen things that they would never forget. They didn’t go into it that much, drifting around the subject as much as they possibly could. Ponyboy didn’t push them, knowing that they were probably traumatized from it. War did that to people.

Steve was glad to jump from the war subject to his own vehicle repair shop, which he invested in after quitting his job at the DX Station. It was trusted by the customers and gained a lot of traction, which Ponyboy wasn’t really surprised about. Steve was amazing with cars. His confirmation of the success increased when they told him that Soda ended up working for him after he left the DX Station years later. The two of them working together was always a formattable force.

Then he learned why Soda quit his job at the DX Station. It wasn’t to continue working with his best friend. While he was walking around the mall, he was “recruited” by a “modeling agency”. Much to his devastation, the recruitment ended up being a scam and he lost a lot of money as a result. Steve was there to pick him back up and offered a job as a receptionist, and later a sub-manager. He got paid more, but it wasn’t enough for him to pay for his stay at the retirement home alone. Soda was only able to stay because his wife, who was a nurse, chipped in. But they were still right on the line. She was around the facility somewhere, Soda told him. He was real proud of who he married.

After talking about that, they shifted topics about their kids and grandkids, which was strange to hear about. Their grandkids were the same age as him which really showed how much time had passed.

Soda and Steve tried to ask Ponyboy about his life—school, home life, hobbies—and that of his apparent grandfather, but he always diverted the questions back to them without actually answering them. He didn’t know if they caught onto his avoidance or not. They were very perceptive people, so they probably did but they didn’t push him to answer.

Eventually, Ponyboy decided that it was time for him to leave. He would have probably stayed to talk more if the topic of his friends didn’t come up. During that entire conversation, he had forgotten about Samuel, who was probably burning the car battery to keep it cool for him. He hoped that he didn’t ditch him there. Soda and Steve were disappointed when he told them that he had to go, and it was then that he realized that they were probably using him as a substitute to the Ponyboy that they had lost decades ago. Before he left, he managed to fish out the addresses of the other gang members.

“What took you so long?” Samuel asked when he finally returned. He sat down, noticing the iced coffee and what was left of a pastry. “I went to Starbucks while you were in there. Want a sip?”

Looking at the green straw that was sticking out of the cup, Ponyboy shook his head. His throat was parched, but he didn’t think that he could stomach anything despite him starving from not eating that entire day. “I was catching up with them,” he answered.

“Remind me to activate a phone for you later so you can text me when you finish.”

“Like the phone you have?” Ponyboy couldn’t stop himself from smiling in excitement.

“Yeah. It’ll be one of my old ones.”

They fell into a short, comfortable silence as Samuel put in the address of the hospital in the GPS.

“You know, I didn’t tell them nothing,” Ponyboy said out of nowhere.

Samuel’s hand stopped midway to another letter. He snapped his head towards Ponyboy, confusion blown across his face.

“You didn’t?” he asked. Ponyboy shook his head. “Why not?”

“I dunno,” Ponyboy mumbled, fiddling with his fingers. “I don’t think they would have believed me… and I didn’t want them to think that I was making fun of my ‘death’. I told them that I was his grandson. They kept asking me questions about me… the Ponyboy that’s supposed to be around their age… but I couldn’t answer them. It felt wrong.”

“That’s understandable. I can see why you did that.”

Ponyboy leaned back, resting his head against the seat. He let out a long sigh. “Golly, I really need a cigarette. Don’t you have some on you?”

A gagging sound left Samuel’s mouth as his face scrunched up in disgust. He pressed his fingers against parts of his skin that were pulsing from the bruises that were on it.

“Are you kidding me?” he accidentally snapped. Ponyboy flinched at his sharp tone. “My parents would quite literally beat me to death if I smoked. Besides, it’s _disgusting_. Why would you want to do that yourself?”

“I like the feeling,” Ponyboy plainly answered. He had heard this a countless number of times from people. They always told him to stop because of how bad it was for him. He was getting sick of hearing it. He brushed off the stern look that Samuel shot him, wanting the atmosphere between them to lift. “So just drop it, alright? I’ll do what I want. If I like it, I’m going to continue doing it.”

Samuel let out a frustrated groan, still looking disgusted. “Whatever. I’m not going to sit here and lecture you about how bad smoking is. Let’s just go to the hospital now.”

The drive there was long and awkward even though it was only a few minutes away. Ponyboy’s knees bounced up and down, wondering how he let this awkward rift between them form. He didn’t like it one bit. He wanted to say something but found that he didn’t know what. Maybe a simple ‘sorry’ would have sufficed, but it felt like his throat was clogged by cotton.

The sun was setting by the time they arrived at the hospital. In a way, it made it look like a dream with the white paint practically glowing gold and all. Ponyboy didn’t have time to appreciate it, however. Instead, he walked inside, leaving the seething Samuel in the car. Again, he went through the process of talking to the receptionist. They asked him a lot of questions, especially that of his current health. Eventually, they let him see Darry.

Again, he felt anxiety creep up his spine, causing a cold sweat to break out across his body. He chewed on his bottom lip almost like it was gum, tasting the iron of the blood that came out of the newly formed crack. He needed to do this. Everyone in the gang needed to feel relieved from the burden that was his ‘death’. He couldn’t tell them the specifics and he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that he was going to be able to return back to his time, but he had to at least do this for them so they wouldn’t feel pain whenever they thought about him.

When he reached Darry’s door, he rapped his knuckles against it before opening it. Darry was in his bed, looking like a shriveled-up version of himself. He was pale and gaunt, almost skeletal, making his wrinkles hang off of him like they were curtains. There were no bulging muscles that could make anyone nervous by just looking at them. Instead, his arms were sticks. His hair was gone as well, showing off the slight deformity of his head. Darry looked so different that Ponyboy almost closed the door. He thought that he was in the wrong room. That was until he heard his familiar but raspier voice.

“Who are you?” he asked, head slowly lolling in his direction.

“Darry?” Ponyboy tentatively uttered, leaning forward.

“Yeah… but who are you?” Darry squinted his eyes as if that would help him focus. “You look like someone I know.”

Ponyboy walked inside the room, warily moving over to the bed as if Darry was a hurt animal. From up-close, he could hear how heavily Darry was breathing. His stomach heaved up and down as if lifting weights on them. “My name is P… My name is Michael. I’m Ponyboy’s grandson.”

There was a long pause as Darry scrutinized him. “He doesn’t have a grandson. He passed away years ago.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Ponyboy spoke, swiping his tongue across his cracked lip. “He’s alive and doing well, but he couldn’t bring himself to try to see you all… The gang, I mean.”

There was a long pause as Darry’s mouth opened. The pause was so long that he could have caught flies in it. Ponyboy could tell that his older brother was processing the new information, trying to see if he was lying or not. The news was hard to believe, especially after he had finally accepted that he had died. He could tell that he wanted to believe it but kept rationalizing it.

“He’s… really alive?” Darry choked disbelievingly.

“Alive and healthy,” Ponyboy answered. “He didn’t come back home though. He wanted to, but couldn’t.”

“Then why? I had to prepare and go to his funeral without his body there. It was so hard for me… for everyone… when he died. He was alive all this time, living his life while we were all mourning?”

Ponyboy shook his head. “He wanted to come back. He really did. But you all moved on.”

“I never moved on. I had nightmares of his death for my entire life and—” All of a sudden, Darry started to violently cough. Each cough sounded like his soul was being ripped apart as his face turned red from not being able to breathe. The heart monitor that he was attached to beeped wildly. Ponyboy didn’t know what he was supposed to do or if there was something that he could do for him, so he sat there. Tears stung his eyes as he watched his elder brother practically collapse back in his bed defeatedly. Darry, who he had always admired for being strong, was before him so weak that it felt like a small touch could break him.

“Can you tell me what happened? Why are you like this?” Ponyboy asked, feeling the first tear fall. He quickly wiped it away with the back of his hand as if nothing happened.

“Melanoma on my scalp,” Darry muttered, regaining his original pale color.

Ponyboy’s breath hitched in his throat. “Isn’t that…”

“Skin cancer.”

He felt his blood run cold. Cancer. The word buzzed in his head. He opened his mouth before closing it. “You… You…”

“I didn’t get it treated fast enough. My brothers always told me that I would work myself to death. I didn’t think that it would end up like this. Even after I retired, I still worked outside too much.” So, this was from his job. Ponyboy wondered if he was still roofing houses or if he had found another job that required him to be outside. “I don’t think that I have much time left. I’m going through radiation therapy, but I don’t see the point of it. I’m seventy-five years old. But my wife wants to extend my life as much as possible. There isn’t a point in me living longer.”

“Don’t say that…” Ponyboy whimpered, clutching his hands into fists, but Darry continued regardless of what he said.

“Why should they waste resources on an old man like me? I’m near the end of my rope already.” There was another coughing fit, but, even though he was in so much pain, he looked at Ponyboy softly. “It’s too bad. If Ponyboy really is alive, I’m never going to see him before I kick the bucket. But, at least you’re here. You look so much like him. If he was your age, you could have practically been twins. What is he up to doing now?”

“He… Uh…” Ponyboy clamped his mouth shut, trying to come up with a good lie, but found that he couldn’t come up with anything while looking at Darry’s pitiful state. “He’s… doing research right now.”

Darry’s head lifted up a bit at that in interest. “He became a scientist or something? He was really smart, you know. He skipped a grade and everything, but I’ll be darned, he never used his head. He had good grades but never used common sense. It got himself in a whole lot of trouble.”

“Yeah…” Ponyboy forced a light chuckle to leave his mouth. If he hadn’t heard this from Darry all the time already, he might have defended himself for being insulted right in front of him. “I… He always had his head in the clouds.”

“But what is he working on right now?”

A pause and a sheepish smile. “Time travel?”

A short laugh left Darry’s mouth before it turned into coughs. Pain flashed over his eyes as he pressed his fingers to his temples. Ponyboy’s smile dropped as he looked away, unable to look at Darry in so much pain.

“Sorry,” Darry apologized, something he almost never did.

“Darry…” Ponyboy started, voice cracking. “Please, don’t die.”

A shaky and cold hand reached over and placed itself over his own. “Don’t worry, I won’t today, Ponyboy.”

Ponyboy’s head snapped up, eyes widening. Did he hear him correctly? Did he know that he was actually Ponyboy? For a second, his heart soared in hope. “I…”

“I mean… Michael. You look and sound just like him… I wish he was here so I could talk to him before I die.”

And just like that, his heart dropped again. It was just a fluke.

“You can’t die…” Ponyboy whimpered. “Not from this… You worked so hard. You took care of m… your brothers and was forced to grow up too fast. You worked multiple jobs and gave up college to be there for them.”

“Did Ponyboy tell you that much about me?” Darry asked, looking amazed.

“Of course. He always talked about you and the gang. You were all he talked about.” Ponyboy swallowed thickly. He felt terrible. It took seeing Darry dying to realize how much he appreciated what he had done for him. Every moment together, Darry had put him first. He had always thought that he was only trying to benefit himself, but he was so wrong. “He loves you, you know that? He always said that he regretted how he treated you and that he didn’t appreciate you enough. He said that he was sorry that he made your life harder.”

Darry shook his head. “He was growing up. I was rough on him. I should have been easier.”

The conversation died down after that. Ponyboy had stopped crying during that time, locking his attention to the window where there was a perfect view of the sun finally disappearing over the horizon. Darry didn’t talk either, enjoying any time he had with him. He kept his eyes on Ponyboy as if he still couldn’t soak up his appearance. Pony didn’t notice him looking at him, mind wandering somewhere else. Even though Darry was right next to him, he kept thinking about Samuel and their small disagreement. He wanted to be there and make things better with him.

“So, who is it?” Darry suddenly asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” Ponyboy breathed out, eyebrows knitting together.

“You’re thinking about someone… Is it a girl?”

Ponyboy rapidly shook his head. “I’m not thinking about anybody.”

“Is it…” Darry paused. “Is it a boy?”

“No!” Ponyboy denied, ears turning red and voice wavering. Even though he said that it wasn’t convincing whatsoever, and he knew that.

“So, it is a guy,” Darry mused. “Do you like him?”

The question struck Ponyboy. Did he like him? His heart raced, pounding so hard against his chest that Darry probably heard it. Samuel… Samuel was someone different. His smile, which seemed awkward on his face from the lack of use, lit up the entire room. He smiled a lot around Ponyboy, making him wonder how much he smiled when he wasn’t around. The clothes that he wore constantly wafted his eucalyptus scent into his nose, making him feel giddy. He _really_ liked it. He remembered all of the times where their skin had touched and how hot it left it. Although they had just met, Ponyboy was certain that he could draw his picture from memory. That was how much he looked at him. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of him, mesmerized. Was that considered to be a crush? Golly, Ponyboy didn’t know what he was feeling.

It was wrong if it was a crush, right? He shouldn’t feel anything towards Samuel, but he couldn’t help but recognize the part of him that didn’t care about the fact that they were from different time periods and of the same gender. He didn’t have a problem with Samuel being gay… but it was different for him. He wasn’t supposed to. His time was just different than this one.

“It’s okay if you like the same gender,” Darry reassured, sensing what Ponyboy was thinking about. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“I know…” Ponyboy could only mutter out.

Darry clicked his tongue. “Did you have an argument? You looked worried.”

“A small one. It’s really nothing… It was just a disagreement. He’s actually waiting for me in the car right now despite it.”

“It sounds like he cares about you.” Darry grinned at how flushed Pony’s face was. “You should go to him. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be alive in the morning.”

Ponyboy paused, biting his lip again. “You don’t mind me leaving?”

“I don’t mind. I’m tired anyway.”

“If you say so…” Ponyboy was still reluctant. He didn’t want to leave Darry alone while he was like this.

“I appreciate you coming here. It’s been really lonely… and I’m happy that Ponyboy is still alive. Make sure he comes and visit me, okay?”

“He’ll see you soon, don’t worry.” Ponyboy smiled, standing up. He gave his brother a gentle squeeze on the hand before exiting the room. His shoulders felt heavy as he walked to the car. Seeing the gang added so much weight on them. It was nice though. He was glad that he took the time to see some of them and he hoped that they felt the same.

Ponyboy practically collapsed when he returned to the car. He pressed his sweaty palms to his eyes, breathing in heavily. The air between him and Samuel still felt tense, but there was a tinge of unmistakable curiosity in there. The car started up and pulled out of the parking spot in silence. Nobody spoke for a long time. It was when they were nearing the house when Ponyboy decided to speak up.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he apologized. He didn’t want to regret treating Samuel badly like he did with Darry in the past.

“No,” Samuel started, glancing over. He had been thinking about the disagreement the entire time that he was in the car. He wanted to remedy the tense atmosphere as much as possible, hating to see Ponyboy so defeated. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to push my thoughts on you. It’s not my business to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do… and it’s not like you could just stop smoking.”

“So,” Ponyboy paused to dampen his dry lips with his tongue, “are we good?”

“Yeah, dude, we’re good.”

They exited the car when they returned back to the house. Mr. Lee still wasn’t home yet so it was easy to slip inside Samuel’s room without being stopped. Even from the bedroom, he could smell food cooking in the kitchen, causing his stomach to rumble.

“What do you want to do now?” Ponyboy asked, casually sitting down on the bed.

“I don’t know,” Samuel answered, glancing at his computer. “I guess we can start researching how to get you back.”

Ponyboy perked up at that. “Can that thing really find out?”

Shrugging, Samuel rubbed his thumb on the touchpad to wake the laptop up. “We might find something… What day did you say it was when the tornado hit?”

He told him the date, watching from afar as the other boy went to work. “The tornado that day… It was one of the worst that I have ever seen.”

“Tornado… Tornado…” Samuel mumbled to himself as he scrolled down a volley of links. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for exactly. Where would he even start when it came to time travel? There had been strange cases of it, but he had always thought that they were all hoaxes. He didn’t think that they would help him in the slightest. So, he decided to learn as much as he could about the event in hopes that there was something weird that stood out from other tornados. He was about to retype his search words after finding nothing about it when a link at the bottom of the page caught his eyes. The title read, “How did the Great Tulsa Tornado of 1965 Change Everything”. He clicked on the link.

_‘An unexpected storm happened in Tulsa during 1965 that shook the city. The devastating tornado that had struck down had resulted in 121 deaths and 297 people injured. It caused up to 250 million dollars in damage, including the Margaret Power Plant. When the power plant exploded, it sent hundreds of thousands of volts across the powerlines of the city, causing power to be lost for weeks. The broken wires and the lightning storm that happened during the tornado set fires across…’_

Samuel skimmed the rest of the article. He tapped his finger against the desk in thought. Electricity… That was definitely the anomaly of tornado incidents. Electricity… Electricity… How did it fit into time travel? It sort of reminded him of _Back to the Future_ , but he couldn’t recall the exact method of time travel that they used in the movies. He wished that he had paid more attention to them when he watched them with his friends. But maybe… He looked up how time travel worked in the movies.

“ _Back to the Future_ ,” Samuel said excitedly when he read the method used, a hypothesis forming in his head. “That’s what we’re going to do.”

“What?” Ponyboy uttered, scrunching up his nose in confusion.

“The day of the tornado, a powerplant exploded.” Samuel stood up, talking quickly from all of the excitement that was built up inside of him. He snapped his fingers to get his thoughts across, pacing the room. “Uh… Ponyboy, by any chance, were there broken wires around you?”

Ponyboy glanced to the side, recalling his memories. The details were blurry, but he did remember the destruction. He nodded. “They snapped when I was out there before I blacked out, I think. Maybe. Why?”

“There was also a lightning storm during this.”

Pony thought more. “I do remember that too…”

“In _Back to the Future_ … uh, they’re movies… they had his vehicle that can travel through time. It requires electricity to run it…” Samuel turned to his screen for clarification. “1.21 gigawatts to be exact. The storm definitely hit that mark when it came to voltage. The car also needed to go eighty-eight miles per hour, which I think was recreated with the tornado but more extreme.”

“So, electricity and winds caused me to come here?”

“But that doesn’t totally make sense…” Samuel hummed. “You would have been dead on the spot if you were hit by that many volts. So, there had to be something else. There had to be something that would have channeled the electricity in one spot to cut open a rift in the spacetime continuum... or whatever it’s called. Do you remember anything else there?”

Ponyboy thought back to the sign. He saw it flying right at him before everything went black. “A sign… There was a sign. There could have been metal on it.”

“If that was the case then you happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

“Don’t you mean I was at the wrong place at the wrong time?” Ponyboy questioned, raising his eyebrow and crossing his arms.

“No… It was definitely right timing because I got to meet you.”

That was smooth. Ponyboy couldn’t help but smile at it, hoping that his ears hadn’t turned red again. “Are we really basing this off of a movie?”

“Do you have a better explanation?” Samuel asked, shrugging. “Besides, the writers had to do some sort of research on time travel.”

“So, if we follow this movie, I should be able to go back?”

Samuel shook his head. “It’s way more complicated than that. That was a freak accident and perfect timing. We need to find a way to recreate it… and we still need to find a way to control it. If this doesn’t work, you would die in a split second. And even if we did open a rift, for what we know, you could be blasted even further in the future or to the prehistoric ages where you will be eaten alive by a T-Rex. You only came to this time period by chance.”

“Are you saying that it’s useless?” Ponyboy squeaked, trying to process what he said. “I won’t be able to go back?”

“No… We just need to do more research to find substitutes. It doesn’t have to be exact but recreating it with as much accuracy to the original might be our best shot.”

Ponyboy froze, looking out the window. Although it was dark, he could make out the tall pylons in the distance. He wondered how far the power plant was from Samuel’s house. He hummed. “Are you suggesting that we blow up a power plant?”

“That’s what it’s looking like at this point.”


	7. Breaching the Surface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More about Samuel's life.

It was the last day of the weekend and it couldn’t be any more boring than what it already was. They decided to wait a bit before visiting the other gang members, wanting to emotionally rest as much as possible. Currently, the two young men were both doing their separate things. Samuel was crouched over his laptop, scrolling through the web to see if he could find anything that would aid them in their time travel project. Meanwhile, Ponyboy was sprawled on the bed, eyes glued to the screen of a phone that was recently activated for him. His eyes burned from how bright the light was, but he ignored it as best as he could, trying to figure out how to use the device.

“How do I send one of those text things again?” Ponyboy asked, finally looking up. He stretched his back on the bed before sitting up.

“Just go on the messaging app,” Samuel replied without looking away from the laptop.

“Which one’s that again?” Ponyboy felt stupid for asking this. He was probably shown it a dozen times already. Sighing, Samuel cracked his knuckles and stood up. He walked over to him, poking an app icon.

“Who are you going to send a text message to?” He knew that he only had one contact on the phone and that was him. He was just striking a conversation. He smiled as he watched Pony’s eyebrows scrunch together, forming lines across his forehead.

‘ _Cute_ ,’ he thought.

“You,” Ponyboy mumbled, biting his thumb’s fingernail as he slowly pressed his other fingers on the keyboard. One by one, a letter was typed, but he soon got frustrated with how long it took and looked back up to Samuel. “Can you write it? It’s taking too long.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you were going to send? I’m right here,” Samuel suggested, putting his hands on his hips.

“I know…” Ponyboy flickered his eyes from his phone and back to him. “I just want to see how it works again and to practice using it.”

“You’re not practicing if I write it for you.”

“But the keyboard is _so_ small. It’s hard.”

“You’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

He was about to sit back down when Ponyboy asked another question. “How do I send it? Do I just press this button?”

“Yeah,” he answered. Ponyboy continued to type and Samuel sat back down. Many minutes later, he received a notification from Ponyboy. He instantly clicked on it, curious about what it was about—probably something cute and simple. Samuel was not expecting, however, to receive a giant wall of text. He gaped at it. “What the hell?”

“You got it?” Ponyboy asked innocently.

“Did I _get it_?” Samuel gasped. “I hope I got all of it. _Fuck_ , dude, did you format this like an essay?”

Ponyboy grinned at him sheepishly. “Is that not how I’m supposed to write— I mean, text?”

Samuel chuckled, scanning through the message. He was smiling really big by the end of it. The text message was about how thankful he was for his help and hospitality. It even had an introduction paragraph and a conclusion. “Usually, when people write big messages like this, it’s to go off on someone. Like if someone was angry and wanted to get everything across. Texts are usually in short bursts of sentences. Most people just send a few small messages in a row.”

“Oh.” Ponyboy nodded his head, noting that for later. A ping came from the phone. He looked down and saw that Samuel had sent him a quick text.

 _‘I’m happy to have done it,’_ it read. Another ping came right after. _‘I’m also glad that I’ve met you.’_

Pony’s cheeks tinted red as he smiled so much that they started to hurt.

It was like that for a long time. Ponyboy constantly asked phone questions—most of which were no-brainers or repeats. Samuel didn’t mind in the beginning, but after a while, it started to get annoying. He kept his cool, though. Besides, he liked seeing him so curious about the different features a phone offered. Everything was going well. That was until the serene moment had to be interrupted by his dad opening the door. He didn’t even bother to knock before entering.

“What are you working on?” he asked as he walked over to peer over his son’s shoulder. Samuel slammed it shut before his dad had the chance of seeing what was on it. However, the movement was very suspicious. Mr. Lee’s eyes narrowed, causing Samuel to gulp. “What are you hiding?”

“Nothing,” Samuel said quickly, clenching his jaw.

“If it’s nothing, then open your laptop up and show me.”

For a long moment, Samuel just sat there. His throat felt tight as if someone was strangling him. God, he didn’t want to show him what was on it. It wasn’t anything bad, of course. It could have been a lot worse like porn or something. But it wasn’t something that Mr. Lee wanted to see. Biting his lip, Samuel slowly opened his laptop, granting his father access to view his screen.

“What is this?” Mr. Lee asked after reading the title of the article he was on.

“Homework,” Samuel lied.

“That doesn’t look like homework to me.” Mr. Lee closed the laptop, forcing his son to look at him. “Time travel has nothing to do with homework. So, do you want to tell me anything?”

But Samuel couldn’t explain himself without seeming crazy. He opened his mouth to say something—anything—but closed it again, opting to swallow the spit that had formed. He wiped his clammy hands on his lap, wide eyes shifting over to Ponyboy who was staring at him with worry. The phone had long been forgotten. He turned back to his dad. Samuel knew what was going to happen and he didn’t want Ponyboy to get wrapped up in it. Even though he wanted backup and an alibi, he knew better than to involve people that had nothing to do with his family with his home issues.

“Let’s talk outside,” Samuel said, standing up. Before he left the room, he gave Ponyboy one last look that said not to follow him. The door closed behind Mr. Lee and him, leaving the other boy alone.

It wasn’t soon after when screams were heard from the living room. Ponyboy stayed on the bed, fingers tapping on his knees. The screams were loud, practically shrills even though they were muffled by the walls. But, soon enough, it was getting too much for him to just sit there. Ponyboy knew that he had no business in the matter, and it was probably better if he didn’t know (not to mention Samuel’s look before he left), but curiosity killed the cat. He had to know what was going on.

He crept out of Samuel’s room, tiptoeing even though his footsteps would have been drowned out by the argument. Ponyboy made his way to the railing that overlooked the living room, peering over it as inconspicuously as he could. He tried his best to angle himself to not be easily seen by the people below him. However, that meant he could barely see what was happening himself.

“You had days to complete your homework!” Mr. Lee bellowed, face redder than a tomato.

“Sorry, but I’ve been a bit busy!” Samuel growled; eyes icier than Ponyboy had ever seen him have.

“Doing what? All you’ve been doing is parading around with that other boy!”

“Hey! Ponyboy has nothing to do with this! Leave him out of this!”

“He has everything to do with this if you are neglecting your schoolwork. First, it’s you not doing your homework, then the next thing you know, you’re failing your classes. And what’s after that? You not getting into an Ivy League? You need to go to a good college, Samuel! How else are you going to become a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer?”

Samuel dug his fingers into his hair, pulling at his roots. “What if I don’t want to be any of those? Have you ever considered that? And you only want me to go into these jobs to finally be able to brag about me to your friends because I’m _such_ a disappointment to you.”

“You’ll get money with these jobs!”

Samuel raised his hands and clapped between each word. “I,” _clap,_ “don’t,” _clap,_ “want,” _clap,_ “to,” _clap,_ “go,” _clap,_ “into,” _clap,_ “these,” _clap,_ “careers.”

Mr. Lee’s eyes darkened. He stormed over to Samuel until he was practically nose-to-nose with him, grabbing the TV remote along the way. The hit was expected. Samuel knew that it was coming. All of a sudden. Mr. Lee raised the remote, slamming it down against his temple. Instantly, he bent over, stars dancing in his vision. The remote kept slamming into him, this time aiming at his back. They banged into previous bruises, sending tremors throughout his body that paralyzed him. It took all of Samuel’s power to not grab the remote, knowing that it would make it worse. Tears stung the back of his eyes as he tried to take it, but there was an overwhelming instinct to run away. So that’s what he did.

Before Mr. Lee could bring the remote down again, Samuel sprinted towards the bathroom that was connected to the living room. Objects were thrown behind him—first the remote, then a book, and then a vase that shattered against the door when it closed. This was soon followed by Mr. Lee storming over to the door, pounding his fists against it and jiggling the doorknob.

“Get out here, right now!” he screamed. “If you don’t come out, I’m going to take this door down, and then you’ll be sorry!”

“Go away!” Samuel shrieked.

Grumbling, Mr. Lee stormed away towards the garage. As soon as Samuel heard him leave, he exited the bathroom, sneaking back up the stairs. He stopped for a second when he saw Ponyboy, shifting his eyes down to his feet when he walked past him without saying a word. He stormed inside the room, grabbing his keys and a coat along the way. Pony followed right behind him, worried about him.

He opened his mouth to say something but closed his mouth again. He wanted to ask if he was okay but ended up choosing another question for now. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“Away. I don’t know where. Somewhere other than here,” Samuel bitterly answered, biting his tongue. “I can’t stand a second more in this house.”

There was something that didn’t seem right to Ponyboy. There was something in Samuel’s eyes that were so offsetting to him. He needed to go with him. He feared that Samuel might do something that he would regret while he was in that state of mind. “Can I come with you?”

Samuel stopped his trek to the window and turned to Ponyboy. From below them, the two of them could hear the door slam shut and Mr. Lee’s frustrated grumbles. It wouldn’t be too long until he came to check the room. Knowing that too, Samuel shrugged. “Do whatever you want, but if you want to come along, then we have to go right now.”

Footsteps now stomped up the stairs and the two of them looked at each other one last time before they jumped out of the window and onto the tree. They slid down it, probably stabbing themselves with hundreds of splinters along the way. When their feet planted on the ground, they ran towards the car and drove away.

It was only when they were a good distance away from the house when Ponyboy started to talk.

“Are you okay?” he started, lips turned down in worry.

“Yeah, I’m all good,” Samuel answered, gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. “I’m used to it.”

Ponyboy raised an eyebrow at that. “This happens often?”

“All the time, but it’s fine. It’s normal and I got off easy. I’m sorry that you had to see that.”

“It’s not normal,” Ponyboy argued. He remembered Johnny’s parents and how they used to beat him black and blue. He didn’t want Samuel to go through the same. The insides of his cheeks were bleeding from how hard he was biting them, filling his mouth with the overwhelming taste of iron. “Golly, Samuel, it’s not normal at all. We gotta get you help or something.”

“No!” Samuel snapped, rapidly shaking his head. “I don’t need help.”

“I know that you’re afraid, but you shouldn’t—”

“No, Ponyboy. I can’t call CPS on them. It might seem crazy, but I still love them. I can’t do that to them, okay?”

The frown deepened. It did seem crazy, but he remembered Johnny saying that he still cared about his parents. It still irked him nonetheless, but the comparison eased him a bit. It didn’t make it okay in his book, though. Reluctantly, he nodded. “Okay… I get where you’re coming from, but you can talk to me when you need anyone to talk to. I hate to see you hurt.”

Samuel smiled, beaming metaphorical rays of sunlight at him. It was fake but it was convincing. He was good that that—lying, Pony meant. He probably would have been a lot better if he wasn’t so afraid of his dad, and that was a scary thought. Someone who’s been through all of that shouldn’t be able to smile so much, but he managed to do it. He crafted his fake smile to be near-identical to his real one over time and practice.

“It’s normal. It really is in my family and many others,” Samuel reassured, sighing. “And in a few years, it’ll be over. I’ll be eighteen. After that, they won’t be able to have control over me.”

“But that’s so long from now,” Ponyboy argued, raising his voice. “I can—"

The grip on the steering wheel was tighter and the accelerator was pressed on, speeding the car up to a dangerous speed. Cars honked at them as they whirled by. Samuel’s face was tense, although he was still smiling, as he continued to speed up.

“Do you want to do something. I think we need to do something,” he said, changing the topic. Ponyboy only shut his mouth. He didn’t run his mouth this time, not wanting to do anything wrong while they were speeding down the highway.

They drove to a hiking spot (miraculously, avoiding police cars) which didn’t seem smart for someone who was just beaten, but if that was what Samuel wanted, Ponyboy wasn’t going to tell him not to. It was better than driving crazily. They both got out of the car, shivering as the wind hit them. It was cold that day. The sky was shrouded with thick clouds and the air was moist as if it was about to rain. Ponyboy hoped that it wouldn’t. He didn’t want to be rained on. He loved the rain but he didn’t want to spend possibly hours in it, being chilled to the bone in soaked clothes.

They started the hike after signing their names in the logbook but Ponyboy did not spend most of the time looking at the environment around him like he usually would. Instead, he kept his eyes locked onto Samuel, watching as the other male looked anywhere but at him. His face scrunched up in pain when he moved the wrong way. Other than that, Samuel looked fine, but Ponyboy knew that he was hiding how he really felt.

Fallen leaves and twigs crunched under their shoes. As they continued, fog rolled around them, curling around the grouping of foliage. It was eerie, but it was also peaceful. The fog felt nice on their skins, giving them thousands of little, damp kisses as they continued forward. There were noises all around them—twigs snapping and branches shaking. Animal silhouettes stopped to stare at them before they darted away and disappeared in the fog. Like ghosts, they came and went, only leaving memories that would soon be forgotten.

It was a short hike, but one that had an amazing ending. When they reached the top, they had an overlook of the entire city, almost invisible with how thick the fog was.

“Wow,” Ponyboy breathed out, breaths coming out as thick condensation. He turned to Samuel who was looking at the scenery through his phone, snapping photos at different angles. At that moment, he looked completely at ease, as if all of his worries were gone like the animals that had disappeared in the fog. He was longing for freedom; to free himself from the shackles that bound himself to his family. It was as if the hike had given him a taste of it. Ponyboy felt free as well. The weight on his shoulders momentarily disappearing. “It really makes you appreciate the little things.”

“I can’t wait until I’m older. Then, I’ll be free, and I can see this sort of stuff whenever I feel like it,” Samuel said. His eyes shifting back to the trail, remembering that it existed and that he had to go back down at some point. His eyes became sad and that was when Ponyboy spoke up again.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” he asked.

The peaceful smile on his face wavered. It was a small movement, one that would have been missed by anyone. Ponyboy would have missed it too if he weren’t focusing mostly on it himself. Samuel’s smile was strained, he could see that now, but man, was he good at smiling. However, smiling wasn’t necessarily always a good thing.

“Why wouldn’t I be fine?” Samuel replied, giggling as if him being abused a few hours ago never happened.

“The abuse, you running away, and,” Ponyboy paused, “you putting on a fake smile.”

As soon as he said that the smile on Samuel’s face dropped, but he quickly corrected himself again. “What are you talking about? My smile isn’t fake. I’m happy—”

“No, stop doing that. I may have only known you for a few days, but I know that you’re _not_ okay. You keep pretending but that doesn’t change the fact. You don’t have to hide in front of me. You can trust me.” He moved closer to Samuel, who was burning holes at him in some sort of unspoken warning. But Ponyboy pressed on. “Because I trust you and I have told you so much about me already. I would like to know more about you.”

“Shut up,” Samuel warned. The two of them were right in front of each other now. “Don’t talk anymore.”

“Samuel, I want you to know that I really care about you, so let me carry some of your burdens for now.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. So, _shut up_!”

“So, please, I—”

Before he could finish that sentence, Samuel lunged forward, holding both sides of Ponyboy’s face in his hands. His lips were millimeters away, almost brushing each other. Ponyboy’s breath hitched as his heart practically stopped. So did time around them. They stayed in that position, breaths mixing together. Samuel’s eyes were glazed over as he held him, but that only lasted for a few seconds in reality. He snapped out of it far too soon, seeing how flustered Ponyboy was before he backed away, panic coursing through every vein in his body. He glanced somewhere else. Anywhere else.

‘ _Shit_ ,’ Samuel thought, cursing himself out for doing such a thing. His clammy hands shook as he hugged himself. “I’m sorry. Fuck. I’m so sorry. You wouldn’t shut up and I couldn’t think of what to do. Sorry. I ruined everything. Shit.”

“Samuel?” Ponyboy could only get out, but his voice came out breathy and confused. His heart was still beating a thousand beats for second and it was hard to breathe.

“I’m sorry. I’m gonna go.”

Before Ponyboy could say anything else, Samuel ran away and disappeared in the fog, leaving Ponyboy behind.


	8. Marco Polo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this was so late. I got caught up in school. They won't let me breathe. Also, there are fires that are already doing that. Currently, there is a fire right next to my house and I may be evacuated, so... fun!

Ponyboy was lost.

Yes, on a straight-forward, simple hike down the hill, he was _lost_. He didn’t know when it happened, but at one point, he walked off the main trail. He probably should have realized it before when the compacted ground turned to plush dirt that caused his feet to sink in and be blanketed by the fallen leaves. He only realized he was lost when he nearly walked off a short cliff that he was one hundred percent sure he never came across when ascending the hike.

Ponyboy tried to return to the main trail by retracing his steps. However, with the thick fog that seemed like it was becoming thicker with each passing second, he ended up wandering further away. Just as quickly as the fog was becoming opaquer, his anxiety was rising as well. He felt cold through and through. There was an icy feeling in his chest that made his heart go numb. He was lost, cold, and alone. It couldn’t get any worse than that. But it did, because it started to rain, and not just a sprinkle. It started to rain cats and dogs. Each drop pounded against the soil, causing miniature craters to form where they hit. It soaked him to the bone, making his clothes heavy and uncomfortably pressing into his skin.

There was no way he was going to find his way back like this. If he continued going, he was never going to be found. Images of his decomposing body, maggots twisting inside of him and mushrooms sprouting out of his skin, flashed in his mind. Ponyboy shivered, dread washing over him. He was going to die here, wasn’t he? Nobody was going to find him. He was going to disappear like he had never existed in the first place.

No, he couldn’t die here. He had to make it back. He was going to get out of here.

Ponyboy’s eyes flickered around, watching the silhouettes of the trees dance around him. Shelter. He needed shelter and the trees could give him some.

Approaching a tree, he pressed as close to it as he could get. It blocked most of the rain from falling on him, but that didn’t change the fact that he was still soaking wet and the wind was almost strong enough to blow him away.

His entire body was trembling like a leaf as he hugged himself in an attempt to get himself warm, but it wasn’t helping one bit.

Why did Samuel have to run off like that? He was having an emotional freak-out, but he knew that Ponyboy had no way to get around and no knowledge of this time period to do anything. The only thing that he could do was stand there. There were no phone booths around…

Ponyboy faltered, feeling his phone weigh down his back pocket. Oh, wait. He _could_ call someone.

Swiftly, he pulled the phone out and leaned over it to become a makeshift umbrella. Ponyboy pressed the power button, letting the warm glow that came from his phone touch his skin. A slightly blurry photo that he had taken (it was his first digital photo ever) looked back at him. His wallpaper was of him and Samuel, standing extremely close to each other, cheeks almost pressing together. They were both smiling. Although, Ponyboy’s looked awkward and unsure. His cheeks were tinted red and one of his arms was tentatively wrapped around the other’s waist. Samuel was holding up two fingers, another arm draped over Pony’s shoulders. He was the one that suggested taking it, saying that it was “for practice” and that “no normal teen would use a default wallpaper.”

The picture made a smile form on Ponyboy’s lips, although it felt like a needle was pressing itself in his heart. Shaking his head, he unlocked his phone, going into his contacts.

He only had one contact saved to his borrowed phone. He wasn’t expecting it to get any larger than that, but that didn’t matter. His thumb hovered over the icon next to Samuel’s name, happy that there were a couple of bars of signal where he was. He was about to press it when he stopped. He frowned, curling his thumb back behind the phone. Samuel was awfully angry at him; fuming because of him. No, Ponyboy corrected himself. He was angry because of everything he went through and at himself for holding it all in his entire life. However, that didn’t mean Samuel wanted to talk to him. For what he knew, he was going to ignore his call after he sees his name on that Caller’s ID thing. But he didn’t have a choice now, did he? With a trembling thumb, he clicked on the phone icon, watching the screen turn dark.

The phone rang for a long time—so long that it was antagonizing. Ponyboy thought that it was going to go to voicemail (another thing he learned about) with how long it took. But, before that could happen, Samuel picked up.

“ _What do you want?_ ” he snapped, causing Ponyboy to twitch.

“I…” Ponyboy started but clamped his mouth shut, which was suddenly dry despite the raindrops that fell into it. What was he even supposed to say? He wished that he prepared more, but the cold was fogging his brain. What would be the best approach? I’m lost, so can you come get me? I need help? I’m about to freeze to death if some other cause doesn’t kill me first? All of these starters were very relevant to the situation, but they might not have been appropriate with what was going on. But why did that matter? Being appropriate wasn’t on the table for him while he was waiting for death to come find him early.

Another strong breeze washed over him, causing his entire body to tremor. He hugged himself closer to the tree, teeth clattering as if there were tap dancing inside his mouth. It was so loud that it could be heard on the other end of the call.

“Did you…” Ponyboy began again, voice so weak that it was like a whimper. “Did you leave already?”

“ _Yeah, I did. What of it?_ ” Samuel replied, sounding like he was about to lash out again. However, there was a long pause as he listened to the clattering teeth. “ _What is that sound? It sort of sounds like teeth... Shit, Ponyboy, are you still in this rain?_ ”

No shit he was still in the rain. If Ponyboy wasn’t so cold, he would have been raising an eyebrow at the question or making a sarcastic remark that would have made the gang proud. Where was he supposed to go? Inside a volcano? “Samuel, I don’t know where I am. You left me and I’m so cold.”

His fingers were turning blue where he held the phone. His lips probably looked the same, face flushed from the cold. Golly, how long had he been in this rain? It felt like hours.

“I’m so cold,” he repeated, whimpering when another gust of wind hit him.

“ _Shit…_ ” Samuel cursed under his breath. The anger from his voice was gone, replaced by worry as he snapped out of whatever state he was in. “ _Okay, shit. I’m coming to get you. Just, um, stay there, okay?_ ”

“Okay…”

The screeching of tires and honking horns could be heard on the phone. “ _Stay on the phone, alright? Don’t hang up_.”

Samuel didn’t talk much after that, but Ponyboy suspected that he was focusing on driving. So, Ponyboy listened to the comforting rumble of the car which was almost muffled out by the rain that was pattering against the ground and the occasional boom of falling branches. It took several minutes before the rumbling of the car stopped and the sound of Samuel opening and closing the car door came through.

“ _Okay, I’m here. Where are you?_ ” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Ponyboy answered, looking around, but all he saw was the fog. It hadn’t thinned out at all.

“ _How do you not know?_ ”

“I wandered off the trail, you see, and—”

“ _I’m sorry, this is going to sound rude, but why the hell would you walk off the trail?_ ”

Ponyboy gestured around but realized that Samuel couldn’t see him. “I couldn’t see. The fog got too thick.”

There was a long pause as Samuel breathed heavily in the phone. He probably was pinching the bridge of his nose. “ _Okay… Um… I’m thinking… Er… Do you see a landmark or something?_ ”

“I can’t do that.”

“ _And why not?_ ”

“I can’t see. It’s too foggy. I told you this.” Ponyboy’s patience was running thin thanks to the cold. He just wanted to wrap himself up in a blanket or take a long, hot shower that would almost burn his skin off.

“ _Right. Sorry, I’m freaking out right now_ ,” Samuel said, making Ponyboy feel bad. “ _I just left you. I forgot you couldn’t get back and I left you. I’m sorry. I can’t believe I did that_.”

“It’s fine,” Ponyboy sighed. “I shouldn’t have pushed you. You weren’t comfortable in talking about it.”

“ _But still…”_

There was a rustle of bushes next to Ponyboy, making him hyperaware that there were other animals in the forest—probably some predators—that could kill him. He hoped it was a squirrel, but that didn’t stop more fear from creeping into him.

“Hey, Samuel?” Ponyboy started, darting his eyes everywhere. “I’m really scared right now.”

“ _I know_ ,” Samuel simply said. “But I’m here.”

On the phone, he was. But not _here_. “Am I gonna die?”

“ _You’re not going to die_.”

“How do you know?”

“ _Because I’m going to find you before that could happen_.”

Hope warmed Ponyboy’s heart as a small relieved smile picked up the corners of his blue lips. “You promise you’ll find me?”

“ _I will poke out my eyes if I lie_ ,” Samuel nervously chuckled. “ _But, hey, let’s play a game, shall we?_ ”

Ponyboy’s eyebrows scrunched together. “A game? Now?”

“ _Yeah. Marco Polo. You know how to play, right?” Another laugh. “Of course you do. When we play, make sure to call out loudly, okay?_ ”

“Okay.”

“ _There’s a mute button on your screen. It’s a microphone that’s crossed out. Whenever you talk, press that, okay? So, your voice won’t get drowned out by the speaker. Press it again right after so you can continue talking to me over the phone. Can you do that?_ ”

Ponyboy looked at the screen, seeing the button that Samuel was talking about. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“ _Good, I’m going to start now_.” There was a short pause of absolute silence on the phone. Ponyboy couldn’t hear Samuel’s heavy breathing anymore. But, suddenly, it came back. “ _Did you hear me?_ ”

“No.”

It went on like that for a while, and with each time, Ponyboy lost more and more hope. Maybe he was too far from the trail to be saved. But then he heard a quiet “Marco” from out in the distance somewhere. Ponyboy’s heart jolted as he spun around, looking through the thick fog again for the source of the voice.

“Polo!” he screamed at the top of his lungs after scrambling to mute his phone.

“Marco!” This time, it was louder.

“Polo!” Samuel was getting closer. His calls were so close that they sounded like they were right next to him and the crunching of leaves was both scary and reliving.

“Marco!”

“Polo!”

Samuel’s silhouette appeared in front of him before his face came clearly into view. “Marco,” he said one more time.

“Polo,” Ponyboy finished, no longer able to feel his toes. “You found me. I don’t know if I lost or won.”

“How about both?” Without a second more delay, Samuel quickly shook off his jacket, throwing it over Ponyboy’s shoulders and wrapping him tightly in it. “You’re soaked. Come on, we need to get you back to the car.”

Ponyboy had no rejections there. He eagerly nodded his head, teeth still clattering. He tugged the jacket tighter around himself, which was still warm on the inside despite the fact that it had absorbed the waters from his clothes and skin like a sponge. Samuel, on the other hand, hugged himself, now jacketless.

“What about you?” Ponyboy asked worriedly. He didn’t want to be the reason why Samuel got sick in this freak weather.

“I’ll be fine,” Samuel reassured. “I’m not the one turning blue. Now, let’s get going before both of us freeze to death.”

That was a great idea. The faster they got back to the car, the better. “Do you remember how to get back to the trail?”

Nodding, Samuel held up a thin rope that Ponyboy hadn’t notice before. “Tip number one when walking off-trail: don’t walk off-trail. Tip number two: if you still plan on walking off-trail, use markers of a rope to help find your way back. I figured this would be the time to do it.”

“Where’d you get that rope?”

“You never know when you will need rope.” Samuel discreetly winked at him, which would have made Pony’s ears turn red if they weren’t already that color.

As they were walking back, following the line of rope, Samuel blew warm air onto both of his reddening hands. Ponyboy had the idea to reach out and hold one of them, which he did much to both of their surprises. Both of their hands were cold, but because of that, they didn’t notice. Their fingers interlocked with each other, butterflies flying in their stomachs.

“I don’t want to get lost again,” Ponyboy found himself saying, which was a lame excuse that Samuel saw through.

They walked back to the car in silence. None of them had the gut to talk again. When they were both situated inside the car, Samuel blasted the heater as he drove off. None of them cared that the seats were just as wet as they were, figuring that it would dry off soon with the heater going off at such a high temperature.

“I’m sorry for leaving you,” Samuel weakly apologized.

Ponyboy stayed silent, focusing on the tingling of his hands as feeling returned to them. His eyes shifted to the window, watching as the raindrops race themselves.

“Do you think that it’s going to snow?” Ponyboy randomly asked. It was cold enough for it to happen, but autumn had hardly even started.

“No, I don’t think so,” Samuel replied tightly, letting it fall back into an awkward silence.

Ponyboy chewed on his numb lip, turning back to Samuel who was training his eyes on the road, hands gripping the wheel tightly. “It’s alright. You were distressed.”

His words surprised Samuel, but, then again, they didn’t. Ponyboy was too good for the world; too nice to be a supposed hood that stereotypical greasers were known to be in historical texts. “But I still shouldn’t have done it.”

“Maybe… but you came back for me,” Ponyboy said. “I shouldn’t have pushed it, and I certainly won’t do so now, but if you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me. You’ve been holding everything in your entire life. Sometimes, you need to let everything go and snap at someone.”

Samuel thought for a moment, clicking his tongue. He deeply sighed. “You’re right… I did need to snap, and I need to talk about it. Are you sure that you’ll be alright with it?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s just… I don’t want to burden you or seem ungrateful. I don’t want to scare you off because of my problems.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Ponyboy reassured, flashing him a small smile.

“Well…” Samuel began. He didn’t know where to start, so he spoke about all of it—his family life, being bullied, fears of society, his causes of stress, his feelings of hopelessness, his deteriorating mental health. Once he got the ball rolling, he found himself not able to stop, letting the warm tears fall onto his lap. His vision went a bit blurry, which didn’t help with him driving in the fog, but he didn’t care. The more he talked, his heart felt both lighter and heavier in almost a reliving way. Through the entire process, Ponyboy listened to him closely, keeping his eyes locked onto him. He constantly nodded, never interrupting him, giving him suggestions, or questing him. He just listened and that made Samuel feel so much better. “I know that people have it way worse than me, so I shouldn’t complain… but I can’t help myself from feeling this way.”

“I understand,” Ponyboy said when he knew that Samuel was done talking. “I’m sorry that you had to go through all of that.”

“But a few years more, right? I just got to hang in there. It’ll get better. It _has_ to.”

“Right.”

They talked a bit more, shifting topics to lighten up the mood. Yawning, Ponyboy leaned back against the seat, eyes drooping. All of the stress was catching up to him tenfold. It made it hard to keep awake, which Ponyboy tried the best to do, but there were a hundred pounds hanging off both of his eyelids. Eventually, despite how hard he was struggling, he let himself fall asleep.

* * *

* * *

Wood flakes fell like snowflakes onto Johnny’s face that was scrunched up in concentration. His arms burned as they were held up over him, pressing a switchblade down onto the bottom a table in the school library. He stuck his tongue out a bit but regretted it instantly as a woodchip fell right on top of it.

“What are you doing?” Steve’s voice suddenly rang out, causing Johnny to jump so hard that his head slammed into the bottom of the table. His vision went white for a second as he grabbed his head, groaning in pain. He quickly crawled out, feeling a bump already forming where he had hit the oversized and heavy table.

“You didn’t have to say that so suddenly,” Johnny complained which only received a sheepish shrug in response. He looked at the two in front of him—Steve and Two-Bit—who both had dark bags under their eyes. Johnny knew he probably looked the same. Even though it had been days since the tornado, they were still looking day and night for Ponyboy.

“Are you ready to go to the assembly?” Two-Bit asked.

The assembly. The entire student body and faculty were going to it. It was supposed to be for Ponyboy. A commemoration, practically, but that term was too positive for this situation. There was nothing positive or happy about Ponyboy going missing (or dying). He sighed, nodding his head.

The three of them headed over to the gym where the bleachers were already being filled out. They quickly grabbed a spot, seating themselves. People were smooshed together since the gym wasn’t the largest in the county. They were knees to backs; elbows to ribcages. They were so close that Johnny swore that he could smell this one guy’s putrid aftershave—burnt rubber—that was a few seats away from him.

“Are they even allowed to have this?” Steve asked gloomily.

“Do what?” Two-Bit asked.

“Have this assembly. Darry didn’t give them permission to hold this.”

“And Ponyboy’s only missing,” Johnny added, which causes the other two of them to twitch. “He’s not dead.”

“Yeah, he’s not even dead,” Steve corrected himself, not believing in what he was saying.

“It’s probably to make the school look good,” Two-Bit stated, and there were no disagreements against that statement.

“Is this thing on?” the principal said, stepping onto a podium to speak into the microphone. He tapped it a few times, clearing his throat after it painfully screeched. “Well, I’m sure you are all still recovering from the devastating tragedy that happened a few days ago. Most of you have been affected by the tornado in some way. If you need someone to talk to, please note that our campus provides students with resources through our councilors… But, besides that, we have unfortunately lost one bright student through this event.”

There were murmurs, but most of the people there looked like they didn’t care one bit about who had supposedly died.

“Yes, yes. I know that most of you have heard by now that, Ponyboy Curtis, had lost his life. A real shame and tragedy. He was so bright,” the principal continued, not sounding sincere whatsoever. His voice was monotone, but he shed crocodile tears to put up an act. He didn’t care about Ponyboy, and that was clear. Pony was a greaser, and he was instantly associated as a hood. The principal was probably happy that he was gone.

“Wasn’t he a greaser?” some person said behind them.

“Yeah, I think so,” their friend replied.

“Then who cares then? It’s not like he was going to get anywhere anyway. He either belongs at a gas station or in jail.”

Johnny could feel himself stiffen up at that. He wanted to turn around and say something, but Steve moved before him. Steve spun around and shot them a glare which made them quiet down. They knew not to mess with him after word got around that he took down four Socs with a broken soda bottle.

Cries filled the gym from many of the female students there. They bawled their eyes out which the three greasers knew were fake since they knew that Ponyboy had no affiliation with any of them. They were just trying to gain attention and sympathy from the other students. It made Johnny’s stomach sick with disgust.

“Let us pray that he made his way to Heaven,” the principal finished before letting everyone go back to their classes.

Yeah, Johnny thought. If Ponyboy was dead, he hoped that he could see his parents in Heaven. But he wasn’t dead. That’s what he told himself, anyway.


	9. Carved Messages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ponyboy starts school and finds a message from a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back! I’m really sorry for the unannounced hiatus. There was a lot of stuff going on in my life, and to be honest, there’s still a lot now. I’m under a lot of stress of trying to find a job that would take me in the next few weeks. It’s the only thing that is keeping me from graduating. If I don’t get one, I won’t graduate until May 2022. So, yeah, a lot of pressure. But I’m going to try my best to make weekly updates again. I also need to find my writer’s voice again because it had been lost in that long break.
> 
> Oh! Merry Christmas, by the way.

Ponyboy felt sick to his stomach. It violently lurched around, ready to spew out the breakfast that he had eaten that morning. Despite the morning’s cold weather, he was sweating something fierce. Ponyboy wiped his palms on his jeans, but it hardly helped at all. Feeling desperate and gross, he shoved his hands into his pockets instead. His borrowed backpack felt heavy even though there was hardly anything inside of it. The straps felt like they were digging into his shoulders, tethering him to his spot. He hated this feeling and he had hoped that he would be able to avoid feeling it—the anxiety he meant. He thought that he would be able to avoid going to school altogether and return to his time period before it could start for him. However, it seemed like his situation was way too complicated to solve within just a few days.

He stared at his school, examining its features once again. The faded paint, bricks, and shrubbery were all so similar yet different than what he remembered them to be when he attended the school back in the ‘60s. It felt like he was just there attending classes a few days ago, but, in reality, it had been decades which was disorienting to think about. He shouldn’t have been so nervous, and yet, he was. Not for the lessons—he was fine with those—but for the fact that he was an enigma there.

A hand gently placed itself on his shoulder, causing him to jolt before relaxing. It was just Samuel, who had been standing by his side for quite a while now. The other male smiled encouragingly at him.

“It’s going to be okay,” he assured him. “You got this.”

“Says the guy who’s from this time period,” Ponyboy mumbled for only them to hear. He gave Samuel a deadpanned expression, huffing.

“I’m pretty sure that school now is going to be the same as it was in your time besides the different technology. There had been no improvements to the dumb school system.”

Ponyboy pressed his lips together tightly. “Do the teachers still hit their students?”

“Do they do _what_?” Samuel looked horrified. He rapidly shook his head. “They aren’t allowed to do that, but that’s not the point. It’s going to be really similar to how it was in your time period.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Then what are you worried about?”

The first bell rung, starting a ripple effect of students walking inside the school building. Samuel and Ponyboy stayed still though, watching people pass by them. They didn’t have much time themselves. They still had to check him in and get to their first class.

“The people,” Ponyboy answered right as someone accidentally bumped into him. He stumbled a bit before correcting himself. He removed his hands from his pockets, opting to rub at the back of his stiff neck instead. There were eyes on him, but that might have been his imagination. But, then again, it might not have been as well. He wouldn’t know unless he stared back, which wasn’t something that he wanted to do. “I think I’ll stick out like a sore thumb. It feels like people are staring at me.”

Samuel smiled, leaning down so that his lips were near one of Ponyboy’s ears. His warm breath brushed against it, sending a shiver down his spine. “They’re only staring at you because of how good you look.”

With that short sentence, Ponyboy felt his body heat up, ears turning red. His heart fluttered against his chest that became tight. He bit his bottom lip, smiling bashfully. Samuel’s ears were just as red as his were when he pulled back, eyes looking anywhere but at Ponyboy. He cleared his throat.

“Anyway… if you use everything that I taught you and stick to the sidelines, nobody will bother you.”

“If you say so...”

“I know so.” He gestured to the school’s doors. “Now, come on. We shouldn’t be late. It’s your first day, after all.”

Great… Ponyboy took a deep breath, trying to make his face the correct shade again. It wasn’t that hard with his worry of school back on his mind. It was time to go for it. He nodded, swallowing his spit back down his throat.

“Let’s do it,” he said, starting his walk to the door.

* * *

* * *

Checking in didn’t take long at all as it turned out. The people in the office used one of those computer things and had it all finished in a matter of minutes. He was given his schedule which was freshly printed and warm to the touch. Even though the process was fast, he was still late for his first class. They had asked if he needed someone to show him around since Samuel left to get to his first class on time, but he declined. He already knew where all of his classes were.

His first class was English. Due to his age and lack of records, he had to repeat his freshman year. It wasn’t that big of a deal to him. It made his life easier and he wasn’t planning on staying anyway. They would be refresher courses if anything since he had already taken most of them. That’s what he hoped for anyway.

Opening the classroom door, he felt cold sweat run down his back when the entire class turned to him, watching him like he was some alien. For a second, he stared back at the silent class before pushing himself inside. He walked towards the teacher who was sitting at her desk near the back of the room. By the time he reached her, the class had already turned back to their work.

“And you must be Ponyboy Curtis, correct? Did I pronounce that correctly?” the teacher, Mrs. Sable, asked with a kind smile after she turned to him. She was on the young side, not too much older than the rest of the students.

“That’s right,” Ponyboy nervously answered.

“It’s nice for you to join us. We were finishing up a quiz, so you didn’t miss anything today. After class, please come and talk to me so I can get you caught up. Your seat is over there, by the way,” she said, pointing to a seat all the way in the front of the room. Great...

Ponyboy gave her a tight smile before sitting down in his new desk, which uncomfortably wrapped around one side of his body. It was a new design for a desk. He should have figured that the desks would be different, but this seemed like a downgrade from the desks that he was used to. It was more constricting and smaller. It seemed like such an inconvenience. He shifted in his seat, trying to find a comfortable position on the hard-plastic material. If the day doesn’t kill him, the backpains that he would receive from the desks would.

The teacher walked to the front of the classroom after collecting all the quiz sheets. Fortunately for Ponyboy, she didn’t introduce him besides explaining to the class that he was a new student to prevent confusion. She turned on this giant screen (he found out that it was called a SMART Board later) before she started, “We’re going to start with answering what the hidden meaning of the bolder that hit Piggy’s head in _Lord of the Flies_...”

* * *

* * *

Samuel was right. Besides the different technology, classes weren’t very different. However, he could tell that the technology wasn’t the best. It was still amazing and Ponyboy had a hard time focusing on the lesson because he was too focused on the device itself. In every one of his classes, the teachers started poking the SMART Board at different spots to try to “calibrate” it. One of them gave up entirely and started to write on a whiteboard that was located at the side of the classroom. True to its namesake, it was literally a white board. The teacher wrote on it with markers that were able to be erased which blew his mind. He was used to chalkboards. Chalk could erase but they were hard to see on the board. The markers were vivid and easy to erase. Sure, Ponyboy had heard about whiteboards. They were invented during his time. But he had never seen one in person. His school, like any others in the nation, hadn’t switched over to using them yet. When he does return to his time period, he hoped that they would switch to them at school.

But, despite his excitement, he was disappointed that Samuel wasn’t in any of his classes. He should have expected that though. There were a number of classes at the school and Samuel was in a higher year than him. The only time that he would get to see him was before and after school and during the short lunch break. That was where Ponyboy was at.

He looked around the crowded hallways of the school for his friend. He probably wasted a quarter of the period when he finally found him at the entrance of the library. Samuel’s face brightened when he saw Ponyboy.

“There you are,” Samuel chirped, waving his phone. “I’ve been texting you, but you weren’t answering me.”

“You were texting me?” Ponyboy asked, surprised. He had forgotten all about his phone. He still wasn’t used to it and all of its capabilities. He also muted it that morning. Ponyboy pulled it out, turning on the screen to see a number of texts and calls from Samuel. “Oh. Sorry about that.”

“You’re here now so it’s whatever.” Samuel’s stomach growled, causing him to instinctively hug his stomach. “Let’s go eat lunch now. I’m starving.”

The two of them entered the library. Apparently, he ate there instead of the cafeteria or outside. That was another thing different about their time periods. Ponyboy was used to leaving the school during lunch with the gang members that still attended. Two-Bit or Steve would drive him to the DX Station. Now, no one was allowed to leave the premises at all.

“So, how is it so far?” Samuel asked on their way to a table that already had people sitting at it. His friends, Ponyboy presumed.

“Good, I guess,” Ponyboy said, shrugging. The weight of his backpack returned. When he came to school, it was practically empty. More than halfway through the day, however, it was filled with papers and textbooks. Most of which were for homework. There was so much—way more than what he was used to even with the advanced classes that he had taken back in his time.* Ponyboy could already predict that he wasn’t going to get much sleep in the next few days. “You didn’t tell me that there was going to be so much homework assigned.”

“What do you have to do?” When Ponyboy listed his homework so far, Samuel briefly nodded his head. “That’s average. They’re letting you off easy for your first day. I’m surprised they’re not making you do a bunch of make-up work.”

Ponyboy shot him a panicked look. “Average?”

“Yeah… Sucks, right?”

“How do you find time to do this and still have enough time to do other things?” Ponyboy asked incredulously.

“I don’t know. I usually have a panic attack every day because it’s so much.”

“Is this why you have a nihilistic humor?”

“That’s just a small part of a bigger picture.” Samuel patted his back, sitting down at the table to start introducing him to his friends.

Samuel’s friends were eccentric in personality. It was a smallish group but was very diverse. Ponyboy wasn’t used to it. Water fountains, for example, weren’t shared by black and white people. They were separated. People would not dare to freely talk about their sexualities like they were, and the males certainly wouldn’t act flamboyantly.

Most of the people in the group in front of him were LGBTQ+ and there was only one straight girl in the mix. Ponyboy thought that he would be the other one, but he wasn’t certain if he was straight anymore. In the group, bisexuals were the majority. It was diverse in race and religions as well, and the unfamiliarity was awkward for him at first. It was a learning situation for him, which seemed to be every second of his life here.

The group asked him a few questions about himself to include him in the conversation more, but that was what they only did before going back to their previous conversation. They were talking about a bonfire and some upcoming raves, or whatever that was. When he asked what a rave was, he was met with weird looks from the table.

“Ponyboy’s just really behind,” Samuel quickly explained. “His parents never allowed him to use a phone until recently. He wasn’t even allowed to use a computer.”

“Seriously?” one of them asked, jaw dropping.

“I’m so sorry,” another said. Ponyboy could only thinly smile.

They continued talking and Ponyboy found himself zoning out at some point during it. He went to place his hands on his lap to stop himself from bouncing his leg, but along the way, the back of his hand brushed across the bottom of the old library table. He cringed when he touched gum. But he also touched something else. In the brief time that he touched it, he knew that it was a carving. He didn’t think much of it at that moment. People carve stuff into the tables all the time. There’s probably a dozen just on that old table. He quickly retreated his hands, wanting to go to the bathroom to wash them off but didn’t want to make a scene. So, he waited until the bell rang.

When it finally did, Ponyboy bent down to pick up his bag to leave. While doing that, curiosity got the best of him, and his eyes shifted to the carving that he touched. It was old and jagged like it had been carved decades ago with a knife. It probably was, but the message was everything to Ponyboy.

_PONYBOY WHERE ARE YOU  
-JC_

Ponyboy’s breath shuttered, hands gripping his backpack’s straps so tightly that they turned whiter than a sheet of paper. His mind started to race with thousands of thoughts swarming inside it. There was no way. His eyes were playing tricks on him. But the more he looked at the carving, the more he knew that it was actually there.

JC… Johnny Cade. It had to be him. Johnny had been looking for him.

“Something wrong?” he heard Samuel ask. His friends had already left to finish the remaining classes.

“Johnny…” was all Ponyboy could muster out.

“Johnny? He was one of your friends, right?” At the question, Ponyboy nodded his head, still not tearing his eyes away from the carving. “What about him?”

“He…” Ponyboy swallowed thickly. “He left a message for me.”

There was a long pause as Samuel ducked down to look at what he was staring at. Once he read the message, his breath hitched in his throat. “Would you look at that…”

“Excuse me, but please go to class,” the librarian called out to them. Ponyboy stood up, finally turning to Samuel with determination in his eyes.

“I have to go back,” he suddenly declared, voice firm. “I need to go back to the gang no matter what.”

For a second, sadness flashed across Samuel’s eyes. It was so fast that Ponyboy almost missed it. A small smile quickly replaced it, but even that looked sloppy.

“Yeah,” Samuel agreed, voice breathy, “you have to go back. That’s how it should be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (*) I asked my dad about homework when he went to high school in the ‘60s. He graduated early and took a lot of harder courses. He said he hardly got homework at all. Most of which would be a few questions or just reading a bit. That’s what I’m basing this off of.


	10. We All Need a Little Bit of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ponyboy visits Johnny and the truth comes out.

It was that night (or morning to be technical about it) that Ponyboy had another nightmare. Samuel had just closed his eyes after finishing his homework when he heard choked yells come from the guest room. Instinctively as if by second nature, he shot out of his bed, wide awake, and rushed over to the room. That was where he found Ponyboy squirming around in the bed, sheets shoved off of his sweaty body, and kicked to the side. He was screaming and Samuel hoped that they hadn’t woken up his parents.

Samuel sat himself on the bed, gently shaking Ponyboy’s shoulder to wake him up. When that didn’t work, he tried shaking him violently like he was trying to wake someone up that was dead. Still, he didn’t wake up.

“Ponyboy, wake up!” he hissed, grunting when the greaser hit him in the gut with his flailing arms. He started to practically roll Ponyboy on the bed at that point. “Come on…”

Suddenly, Ponyboy’s eyes snapped open as he shot up, almost smashing his head against Samuel’s own. His chest heaved up and down quickly, eyes skittering around the room as if looking for something. After processing every detail that it had to offer, his eyes fell onto Samuel whose eyebrows were sewed together with worry.

“Did I wake you?” Ponyboy croaked, throat dry from the screaming. He already knew the answer, looking down at his shaking hands shamefully. “I’m sorry.”

Samuel gave him a small, reassuring smile and said, “Don’t worry about it. Another nightmare?”

Ponyboy nodded. “Yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?”

This time, the greaser shook his head. “I don’t remember what happened.”

Samuel had a feeling that Ponyboy was lying, but he didn’t push him. He let go of the breath that he didn’t know he was holding and leaned back against the headboard. He patted the bed next to him to indicate that Ponyboy should sit or lay down there. However, Ponyboy didn’t move from his spot, still looking around the room as if something was about to jump out at him from the shadows at any given moment. He probably wasn’t going to have an easy time going back to sleep by himself.

“Come on,” Samuel coaxed. He yawned, exhaustion finally catching back up to him now that his adrenaline had died down. “Lay down. You need to go to bed.”

“You’re staying?” Ponyboy asked. Although he tried to make it seem like he was apprehensive about it, Samuel knew that he was relieved.

“Yeah, for now.” Samuel shifted so he was more comfortable in his spot. “Just go to sleep. I’ll be here until then to make sure nothing happens to you.”

Ponyboy smiled, laying down on the bed. He stayed close to Samuel, so much so that his forehead pressed against his thigh. He closed his eyes and let his body relax into slumber.

While Ponyboy slept, Samuel couldn’t help but watch him. His fingers subconsciously combed through his light-auburn hair, heart swelling as he did so. In the short time that he knew Ponyboy, he had grown so attached to him, and that was problematic.

Samuel did not want Ponyboy to leave. That was what he figured out. That and he had a major crush on him. It wasn’t that hard to come to terms with that. He had plenty of crushes before to be able to identify the feeling. But his crush was a huge problem for him. For starters, Ponyboy was technically really old. He had his fair attractions to hot, way-older men, but this was another issue altogether. Ponyboy was supposed to be in his late 60s; practically starting his 70s. Samuel tried not to think about it. Secondly, Pony was supposed to go back to his own time period, making it impossible to end up with him unless he wanted to break his own heart. Why were all the guys he crushed on impossible to have?

Call him selfish for wanting him to stay; not letting him join back with his family so that he could have him for himself. Samuel was a terrible person, thinking like that. He shouldn’t be so selfish, and he should let him go back so that he would be happy. However, he couldn’t help but listen to the part of him that told him he could be the one who made him happy. He was all Ponyboy needed. Besides, it wasn’t like the world would be messed up if he stayed in this time period. In the past, Ponyboy had “died”. That made it possible for him to stay without destroying the fabrics of the universe. But, if Ponyboy returned to his time period, he could possibly destroy life as he knew it. If he returned, then his death would change so much of the world—including if Samuel lived or died. Ponyboy was the butterfly in Ray Bradbury’s _A Sound of Thunder_.

So, was he really being selfish? The little devil that was sitting on his shoulder said it wasn’t. It kept telling him to sabotage Ponyboy’s mission on returning to his time period so that he would be happy and save the world. But Samuel knew that he couldn’t do that. He knew that Ponyboy would be in a lot of pain if he didn’t go back and his pain felt worse than his own.

God, he hated this all.

He let his hand relax, closing his own eyes. Samuel didn’t know how long he had been thinking or when he fell asleep, but when he woke up, his limbs were tangled up with Ponyboy’s.

* * *

* * *

“Are you sure about this?” Ponyboy asked nervously in the car seat. School had ended an hour ago for them. Both of them were exhausted but they felt like visiting Johnny was the right thing to do after finding out about the message under the library table.

“Yeah. You saw the message under the table. Johnny was looking for you for so long. You should give him closure. The rest of your group too,” Samuel said.

Ponyboy looked at him funnily. “Why would I need to give him closure if I’m going back to them?”

Samuel pressed his lips into a thin line, grip tightening on the wheel. “What if… What if you don’t go back? It’s a possibility that we have to prepare for.”

That must have been the wrong thing to say because Ponyboy whirled his entire body around to look at him, raising an accusatory eyebrow, as he snapped, “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m just saying that—”

“I’m going to go back,” Ponyboy declared. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Samuel sighed, hating whenever Ponyboy got hotheaded. He halted the car in front of the house that was indicated on the GPS, spinning to Ponyboy so he would be able to look at him straight in the eyes. He had to understand where he was coming from. “Because what if we’re just chasing a false dream? What if it’s impossible? We have to face the facts.”

“Do you seriously have no hope for me? I want to go back.” Ponyboy’s voice cracked when he said that, making it clear to Samuel that his hope was the only thing keeping him together. His chest was so tight that it was painful, squeezing his heart with an iron fist. Ponyboy couldn’t stay in the future, Samuel had to remind himself about that. Besides, he didn’t want to be there with him anyway. They were hardly even friends and it wasn’t going to get any further than that. He had to accept that and stop being so stubborn about it. Ponyboy was angry at him because he was the one that wasn’t understanding.

But Ponyboy’s hope seemed so farfetched. Time travel? Like they could crack that case.

“No, I—” Samuel started to say but cut himself off. He swallowed thickly. “I do have hope.”

“That’s not what it sounded like to me,” Ponyboy challenged, glaring at him.

“I’m just laying down everything. I mean, what if it’s too much for us?”

“Why would it be too much for us?”

Everything about this was so frustrating. Samuel was being pulled in multiple directions. He wanted to satisfy everyone but was unable to. He was so frustrated that he wasn’t careful in reeling in his emotions. He slammed the steering wheel with his palms, snapping back, “Because we’re just kids!”

When Ponyboy flinched at his sudden sharp tone, he lowered his volume, feeling bad. “We’re just kids, Ponyboy. We’re not professionals. We’re two kids with no background in time travel that are trying to do what scientists have been trying to accomplish for decades. If professionals can’t figure it out, we won’t be able to.”

Ponyboy shook his head, not wanting to believe what he was hearing. He knew what he said was logical and a part of him did believe Samuel. But he just didn’t want to come to terms with that.

“I’m not a kid,” was all Ponyboy could say to that before he marched out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

He didn’t turn back to look at the car until he reached the door to Johnny’s house, which was ridiculously big. It was a mansion—a lot larger than a Soc house. His annoyance was replaced with shock as he compared his own height with the giant, mahogany doors that stood before him. The house even had a fancy fountain at the front. Christ, was this even Johnny’s house? How did he get to even afford this?

He was so entranced by the house that he didn’t notice the doors open in front of him until someone said, “Can I help you?”

It was a little girl, around the age of eight or nine. She was shyly hiding half of her body behind one of the doors as she waited for him to continue the conversation.

“Hi,” Ponyboy cleared his throat. “I’m looking for Johnny Cade. Is he here?”

“You’re looking for Grandpa?”

Grandpa?

Man, did that sound weird to his ears. Johnny had a grandchild or grandchildren. He wondered who he was married to.

“Yeah, I came to talk with him. Can you get him?”

“Okay… Wait here!” The girl ran off, not bothering to close the door behind her. Ponyboy was left to stand at the entrance awkwardly, looking at the details of the foyer inside the house. Before he knew it, a man walked over to him. In an instant, Ponyboy recognized him. It was Johnny. Even though he was old, he looked good for his age. He still had that boyish, puppy-dog face that he always had. Besides the age, the only things that were different about him were that he was no longer covered in bruises and that he looked a lot brighter in personality. His aura was practically sparkling.

“Hello, how can I help you?” Johnny asked and his voice alone almost made Ponyboy break down right there on the spot.

“Hi,” Ponyboy started, managing to get his voice to work properly. “I’m Michael… Ponyboy’s grandson?”

Johnny’s expression changed quickly from sadness to confusion as he processed the words separately before together. His eyebrows furrowed together, mouth opening before closing again. Johnny struggled to form words as he tried to figure out what to say. Finally, he managed to get something out. “Grandson? Did you just say that you’re Ponyboy’s grandson? I thought… I thought…”

“You thought that he was dead. I know. But he wasn’t. He ended up fine. He survived the tornado.”

There was a pause as Johnny continued to process the words. “I… That’s…”

“Crazy? Believe me, I know.”

Johnny hummed in agreement. He pointed inside the house, finger shaking. “Would you like to come in? I have a feeling there is a lot to talk about.”

Ponyboy looked over to Samuel’s car, which was far away since the driveway was ridiculously long. He hadn’t realized he walked so far until then. He probably shouldn’t leave Samuel waiting in the car for too long, especially after their small feud. But Johnny was right there, even though he was a lot older. Both of them could cool down a bit more, he decided. Ponyboy nodded, stepping inside the house. “Let’s do that.”

They walked through the house and Ponyboy soaked in his new surroundings. He thought that Samuel’s house was fancy. It was nothing compared to this one. Johnny took him to the living room where they sat across from each other.

“So, what made you come here, Michael?” Johnny asked when he was comfortable. Hearing his middle name being used was still weird.

“I found your message under the library table at the school,” Ponyboy answered.

“The carving?” Johnny cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“Yeah, it was asking where Ponyboy was. Your initials were under it.”

Realization hit Johnny as he nodded, mouth ajar. “I forgot I did that. It’s been ages.”

Ponyboy pursed his lips. “How long… How long have you been searching for him after he disappeared?”

“For months after the incident,” Johnny answered after much thought. “Everyone in the gang looked for him. We almost gave up multiple times, but Soda kept making sure we wouldn’t lose hope. Eventually, we did have to face it. He was gone, but I guess he wasn’t dead if you’re here.”

“And what made you lose hope?” It was so wrong to be there, pretending to be someone that he wasn’t. He should give them closure like Samuel said should do.

“A lot can change in just a few months. We tried our best not to lose hope, but we did in the end. I regret that now because he survived. Can I ask you something? Was he alone?”

Ponyboy shook his head, thinking about Samuel. He was starting to miss his company, feeling bad for snapping at him. He had been helping him this entire time. He didn’t have to help him. Samuel could have left him on the road if he wanted to.

“At first,” Ponyboy said, smiling dreamfully. “Then he found someone who helped him out.”

He wasn’t mad at them for losing hope. They tried their absolute best to find him, but he wasn’t physically there so it was impossible. If he were, they would have probably found him. It was still sad that they gave up, but decades were far too long to be missing.

Johnny was examining him like a hawk, scrutinizing every detail. There was something knowing in his eyes. He didn’t ask where Ponyboy was—which was strange— but instead asked, “Is he happy?”

That question caught Ponyboy by surprise. He dumbly nodded. “Yeah, he is.”

They continued to talk for a bit. Johnny talked about his life and Ponyboy diverted the conversation so it would be just about Johnny. It turned out that he became famous when he was younger, although not so much now because he stopped working. What he was famous for, he didn’t find out in the end. Their conversation ended far too soon because Ponyboy didn’t want to leave Samiel alone for too long.

But, still, even with the short conversation, Ponyboy felt like he missed so much. He made it to the front door with Johnny behind him. Samuel was still there waiting for him.

“That’s my ride,” Ponyboy muttered under his breath. He took a step forward but stopped. Hope… Hope was the driving force that kept everyone going in the world. Without it, everything would be for nothing. Looking at the future now and how they were going to go about him returning to his time, it did seem pretty hopeless. Samuel had all the reasons to feel that way. They couldn’t do it all on their own. He looked back over to Johnny. They all needed a little more hope. “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Johnny asked.

“I’m… I’m not who you think I am.” Was he really going to do this?

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not going to believe it. It’s crazy.”

Johnny gave him a reassuring smile, the wrinkles around his eyes deepened. “Tell me.”

Ponyboy took a shaky breath. Was this going to be the wrong decision? Well, there wasn’t going back now. “It’s about me. The truth is… My name isn’t Michael.”

“It’s Ponyboy,” Johnny finished, causing Ponyboy’s eyes to widen in shock. Out of everything he was expecting to hear, that was the last thing. Did he hear Johnny correctly? He knew that he was Ponyboy? How did he know? There was no way.

“How did you—”

“I figured when I was talking to you, but I didn’t believe it until now.” Johnny had always been perceptive and intuitive. The two of them always were able to read each other and talk to each other without words. Ponyboy had expected him to lose that ability, but it seemed like he still had it. “You look and act exactly like him. I thought I was crazy for thinking that. So, it’s true? You’re really Ponyboy?”

Tears suddenly peeked out of Ponyboy’s eyes, his heart flooding with emotions such as relief. He quickly nodded his head. He wanted to run over and hug him but stopped himself short. Would it be too weird to do that? But, whatever. Johnny knew that he was Ponyboy! He wasn’t alone anymore. Although Samuel helped him so much, he wasn’t anyone from the gang. Christ, this was surreal. He sniffled. “Yeah, and I’m stuck here. I want to go back, Johnnycakes.”

A hand placed itself on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We’ll get you there. Don’t worry. I can’t believe that you’re here. How did this even happen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well,” Johnny hummed, “I can make a call if you would like. I know someone who researches stuff like this. I’m sure he could figure it out and get you back quickly.”

Ponyboy smiled, wiping his tears away with his sleeve. This was definitely the right decision. “Really?”

Although he was excited, Ponyboy couldn’t help but think about what Johnny will be losing if he goes back. He was doing so well, had a family, and was happy. If he returned, would Johnny never achieve this result? Soda and Steve were happy too, and Darry’s condition was most likely inevitable as well. He wondered how Dally and Two-Bit were doing. They were probably doing alright too.

“Of course,” Johnny said. “I want you to go back. It was never the same without you there. It was so empty.” Johnny finally let go of him, taking out his phone so they could exchange numbers to keep in touch. “Have you told anyone from the gang about this?”

“You’re the only one,” Ponyboy admitted. “I don’t know if I should tell them. I don’t want to hurt them.”

“You’ll figure it out. I’m sure they would love to know though.” He looked over to the car, squinting his old eyes to try to focus them. “Is that who found you?”

“Samuel?” Ponyboy looked over at the car before he nodded his head, smiling. He could just make out his friend’s outline. It looked like he was on his phone. He was constantly using it and was probably reading one of those stories that he always closed before Ponyboy could read anything. He chuckled to himself. “Yeah, that’s him.”

Johnny hummed, smiling knowingly again. “And he’s the one who makes you really happy?”

At that, Ponyboy whirled around so quickly that he almost gave himself whiplash. His face heated up in an instant, turning redder than a tomato. “What are you trying to say?”

“You know, the gang and I would accept you no matter what.”

If possible, he became even redder. He was practically steaming, that was how hot his face felt. Was Johnny insinuating that he liked Samuel in that way? No way. “It’s not like that.”

“Really? Are you sure?” Curse Johnny’s ability to read him like a book. He was never able to keep anything from him.

“I… uh…” He had to go. He was going to implode if he stayed on this topic. “I gotta go. I’ll, uh, talk to you soon, okay?”

With that, he scurried away. He jogged over to Samuel’s vehicle, still red in the face when he plopped himself in the passenger’s seat.

“Are you alright?” Samuel asked, starting up the car. “Your face is all red.”

“Yeah,” Ponyboy answered, voice wavering. “I… I told Johnny about me.”

Samuel’s attention turned fully onto him. His hand stopped midway to the gear shift. “Like deadass? What did he say?”

“He believed me, and he told me that he was going to call some researcher to help us. You were right, by the way. We won’t be able to do this alone.”

Samuel’s shoulder drooped at that. He sighed, nodding. “So, you’re going to leave soon?”

“I think I will.”

“Are you excited?”

There was a long pause. “I don’t know anymore.”


	11. Steps on How to Create a Wormhole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seemed like it was time to go back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I am not an expert on physics and some information is very generalized to fit the story more. Most of it is still fiction.

Johnny didn’t wait long to schedule a meet-up with the researcher he was talking about. In fact, Ponyboy was fairly certain that he called them right after he left his house. He thought that it was going to take a bit less than a week to do, but he was wrong. They set the meet-up for Friday so that they could visit right after school finished for the week.

The researcher was also a professor at Oklahoma State University, so they drove over and spent half an hour trying to find a parking spot. There weren’t any open at the college itself, so they had to park a bit away and walk to the campus.

College was strange, to say the least. He had never been to one before, making him feel out of place there. Nobody paid him any mind as they went about their day. So, his nervousness was unnecessary. There were people everywhere doing various things—taking surveys, walking their pets, cramming, or even sleeping on surfaces that weren’t meant to be slept on. They navigated through the campus, which felt like a maze with how many pathways there were. They finally found the building that they were looking for and slipped into the classroom that the professor was supposed to be teaching in. The class was basically finished so they didn’t think that it would be a problem to listen in for a bit.

“Remember, your papers are due before midnight today,” the professor reminded the students. The students filed out of the room and Samuel and Ponyboy stood up to approach the pedestal. There were a few students asking questions about their assignments, but they filtered out quickly enough.

“How can I help you? I’ve never seen you two in my class before,” the professor said, sliding his laptop into his bag.

“Oh, um, Johnny Cade said you would be able to help us?” Ponyboy started.

“That’s right!” The professor gasped out in recognition. “It was about a science fair project, correct? I didn’t know they still did those in high school.”

“A science fair… right,” Samuel awkwardly chuckled. So that was how Johnny explained it to him. “Yeah, it’s just a project we’re working on for the fair.”

“What made you choose time travel for your project? Just curious. Most people would have chosen something simpler and easier to do.”

“It started out as jokes and giggles but then we decided to actually try,” Ponyboy lied, shrugging. “We tried to change our topic, but we weren’t allowed to.”

The professor nodded, sitting himself down on one of the cushioned seats in the lecture hall. He rotated one of the miniature desks (which weren’t even big enough to support a notebook fully) to be able to have a place to rest his arm. “I see. Well, whatever you need, I’ll try my best to help.”

Both of them sat down, keeping a bit of a distance from the professor to not make it weird. What should they ask first?

“Uh…” Samuel started, forming a question in his head. “So, tell us about time travel. Is it even possible to do it?”

“Yes, it’s possible to time travel. It seems like it’s fiction, but it’s real,” the professor explained excitedly. He acted like a kid, talking about time travel. He bounced in his seat, eyes sparkling. Maybe he never got to talk about time travel that often and was finally letting out everything he was holding back. “You see, Albert Einstein discovered the theory of general relativity. In this… space, time, and speed are taken into account. Basically, the faster you are, the slower time is for you individually. There had been many… Aren’t you going to take notes?”

Ponyboy blinked in surprise, pulling out his phone. He briefly remembered the recording capabilities of it.

“I’m recording our conversation if that’s alright,” he said. Samuel beamed at him, probably proud of him for remembering that phones could do that. It wasn’t really hard to remember. Ponyboy just knew that mobile phones could do basically everything.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” the professor agreed, continuing with his explanation. “So, there had been experiments performed to test if time travel could be an actual theory. To sum up one of them, there was a test with two clocks that were set at the same time. One stayed on the earth while the other was put on a plane that flew in the direction of Earth’s rotation. After the experiment, they found that the clock on the plane was behind the one near the ground, meaning that time moved slower on the plane than the average one second per second that we usually abide by. Even astronauts experience time differently. They experience time much slower than people on Earth.”

That was interesting and all, but it wasn’t what they wanted to know about. “What about going back in time a few decades. Is that possible?”

As soon as he asked the question, the professor shook his head, and Ponyboy felt his heart sink. “It’s not possible. That’s fiction. I really wish we were able to do that. It’s what inspired me to go into this field.”

“But can you tell us hypothetical-wise? If it were possible, how would we be able to do it?” Samuel asked, putting the conversation back on track before the professor could talk about his inspirations.

“Well, hypothetical-wise…” the professor hummed in thought, scratching at his chin. “Maybe if you traveled at the speed of light, but that would still move you forward in time and you would also have to go to space.”

But Ponyboy didn’t have to go to space or travel at the speed of light to get to the future. There had to be something missing, something that wasn’t discovered yet that would explain his phenomena.

“You see,” the professor continued, “if you traveled the speed of light in space for a year, for example… this would include the return… then around eighty-two years would have passed on Earth while it would be only one year for you. However, I will say that we do not have the resources for this to become a theory.”

“Yeah, but what about going back in time?” Ponyboy pushed.

“If a wormhole was created, going back in time _could_ be done. It would be almost impossible for us to create a wormhole here in this time period and go back in time. But, if one were created in the past and the other end of it opened up in this time period, it would work. Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

Going to the future was definitely easier than going to the past, but as of what the researcher had just said, Ponyboy had one question.

“What are wormholes?” he asked. It was a legitimate question for him. Sure, he heard of the word before, but that didn’t mean he knew what it meant. His school never covered it and he didn’t think that it was in the future as well.

“Wormholes are bends in space and time that are so concentrated that they create a tunnel,” the professor explained. “They’re really unstable and dangerous, and if a person goes through one, they may die instantly as the wormhole collapses.”

Ponyboy gulped. Die instantly? This was a lot scarier than he thought. Going back in time could possibly kill him and then he would never see the gang. His memorial picture in the yearbook flashed in his head, causing him to shiver. That page would become true in two yearbooks instead of one.

“Is there a way, to, you know, _not die_?” Ponyboy asked nervously, biting the insides of his cheeks.

“Yeah…” the professor trailed off. “Last year, I believe, other physicists were able to find a way to create a wormhole that would be stable, but only for a short amount of time. It would only be open long enough for someone to put a letter inside. So, someone might have seconds or a minute worth of time to get through the wormhole before it collapses.”

Seconds may be enough time. It was risky. Ponyboy didn’t know what wormholes were like—how long they were or if he would be able to move around in them—but it was a small chance. “How about creating one? Can we create one?”

The professor snorted, shaking his head. “Maybe if you had some black holes and long cosmic strings.”

“We don’t have those…” Samuel mumbled. “Is there anything else we can use that are more reasonable?”

“What are you two going to do? Try to build your own wormhole that may swallow up Earth with it?” The professor meant that as a joke, which the two teens chuckled to, but they weren’t taking it as one. They were quite serious.

“Just… science…” Ponyboy answered, not able to come up with a better explanation. “It’s really interesting.”

“Yeah, it really is,” the professor laughed, lazily nodding. “Well, I guess, to answer your question, you would need matter and energy. But those would still be too unstable. So, to remedy this, you would need negative mass as well. It should be able to stabilize a wormhole, but that’s where you reach a problem. Negative mass is so hard to get that it’s safer to say that it doesn’t exist.”

“There has to be something else that we could do…”

The professor checked his watch to see how much time he had left before he had to leave to get to his next class on the other side of the campus. He ticked his tongue, jerking his head to the side as if trying to get hair out of his eyes. “Maybe if you create one using electromagnetic energy, but that would still need a lot of gravitational energy.”

Now, _that_ was getting somewhere.

Ponyboy and Samuel exchanged glances, knowing that what they had hypothesized before was connected to what the professor was about to talk about.

“So, hypothetically, would lightning and a strong tornado be able to create one?” Samuel asked.

“At the right place, maybe. But that would be extremely rare and unstable,” the professor confirmed.

“And a tornado’s basically a black hole isn’t it?”

The professor shook his head, standing up. It seemed like they were about finished on his available time. “If you mean if they are similar in them having an eye, then yes. Black holes do not necessarily rotate like tornadoes do. The pressure of gravity is much higher as well. The eye of a tornado has a low pressure of gravity but it’s much higher at the side. But that’s as much as I’m able to tell you right now. I have another class to go to.”

Samuel and Ponyboy both stood up, shaking his hand.

“Thank you so much for taking time out of your day for this,” Samuel thanked.

“Of course. Good luck on your project,” the professor said before leaving the lecture hall. The duo started to walk back to the car. Only when they were situated inside did they start to talk about their plan.

“I think we had the right idea about how the time travel happened,” Samuel started, starting up the vehicle. “So, we’re going to have to go to the power plant because of how much electromagnetic energy there is there. We’ll have to figure out what to do for when it’s time to send you back.”

“Do you really think we can pull this off?” Ponyboy asked, nervously licking his chapped lips. He used to be confident about heading home, but hearing the professor talk about how unstable and unlikely wormholes were, he was starting to fear for his safety. If he walked in a wormhole, there was a high chance of it collapsing while he was in there, meaning there would be no more Ponyboy. Who wouldn’t be at least a little bit scared about that? But there was a small chance of him making it. Emphasis on ‘small’.

Samuel hesitated, deciding on if he should speak his mind or not. “No, I think that you’ll die if you try. We don’t have one chance to test the wormhole out and we can only try one time. The odds aren’t in our favor on this.”

“But still, we have to try. We’ll never know until then.”

* * *

* * *

It was a week later when they had the opportunity to enact their plan.

The two boys were in Samuel’s room, finishing up their homework when both of their phones blared the awful siren for a storm warning. They nearly jumped out of their skin as the noise shrieked, making their ears ring.

“Fuck, I hate when it does that,” Samuel cursed, calming down. He grabbed his phone to read the notification.

_ALERT: TORNADO WARNING FOR TULSA COUNTY, OK._

“Tornado?” Ponyboy read on his device. He picked up his phone as well to read the message there. He looked up, eyes filling up with determination. This was it. “Is it go time?”

Samuel sighed, “Yeah, it is. Let’s go before it’s too late.”

They drove to the powerplant like the devil was on their tails. It was more like the tornado was on their tails though. Tornadoes don’t last for a long time, despite the amount of damage they do, so they had to rush. Most people were off the roads already, taking shelter somewhere and making it easy for them to get to their location quickly. Once there, Samuel parked down the road a bit to hopefully prevent it from damage and/or assure that it wouldn’t be seen by cops if they were to arrive. They hoped that the tornado would head in their direction so they would be able to do what they need to do.

They slipped inside the fencing (which was terrible protection for something so important) and they instantly felt the change of energy around them. Their hairs stood up on their ends, tingling their skin. It was windy due to the storm, but despite that, they could smell that distinct metallic scent that electricity gave off.

Both of them looked around at the machines. Would it be enough? It sure felt like there was enough magnetic energy, but it was hard to judge.

“So,” Ponyboy started, examining some of the magnets there, “how are we going to do this?”

“Uh… good question…” Samuel stammered, pulling out his phone to see where the tornado was at. He scrolled through a few posts and skimmed through some live updates. “It looks like it’s heading closer to us, but it would be passing by. We’re going to need to bring the electricity over. I just don’t know how…”

Ponyboy looked around again, following the power lines above his head. He tentatively wetted his own lips with his tongue. He wished that he brought rubber gloves or something that would protect him from what he was about to do. It was stupid and he didn’t think about how dumb it was until he started doing it. Darry always said that he had a problem with not using his head, but, sometimes, it was an asset to him. He just hoped that it was an asset this time around.

He sprinted over to one of the utility poles, using his momentum to easily start climbing it. He didn’t look down, training his eyes to the cloudy, green sky above him.

“Holy shit, what are you doing?” Samuel asked, rushing over to the pole he was on.

“We need electricity,” Ponyboy answered, reaching for the next handle.

“That’s a lot of volts you’ll be close to. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Ponyboy finally looked down, smiling sheepishly. He decided to take a page from Samuel’s book. “If there was one person who I was going to kill, it’s going to be me.”

It took a second to process what he said. When it did, Samuel choked on laughter. He didn’t expect him to make such a comment since he always became concerned whenever he made them himself. He looked over to another utility pole, smiling and disregarding his safety. “Well, let me help at least.”

“Aren’t you worried that you’ll die?” Ponyboy relayed back.

“I have a presentation next week anyway.”

Samuel started to climb a utility pole. They quickly reached the top. The vibration of the powerlines as electricity ran through them was loud and almost as eerie as the howling wind. Together, both of them attempted to remove the powerlines, but they were stuck no matter how hard they tugged. They were chilled to the bone, the wind going through their jackets like it wasn’t even there, but they continued to pull.

As time went on, the wind got harsher. It got to the point where the utility poles they were on swayed. Debris was flying around, slapping and scratching their skin. From the distance, they could see the cyclone move closer to them. It was large, but not nearly as large as the one that Ponyboy saw that day he was transported to the future. With the speed it was approaching, they probably only had seconds to dislodge the powerlines and get to somewhere safe. Unfortunately, the only way that Ponyboy saw that happening was if they jumped on the powerlines and used their weight to free them from the utility poles. But, since none of them wanted to be electrocuted to death, they weren’t going to do that.

“We need to get shelter!” Samuel screamed, barely audible through the howling wind.

“No, I’m staying! I have to do this!” Ponyboy screamed back. “Find shelter for yourself!”

“I’m not leaving you! If you’re staying, then I’m staying too!” If they were in another situation that wasn’t life-threatening, Ponyboy would have marveled at how sweet that was. But, since it was, he continued to pull at the powerlines like their short exchange never happened. But it seemed like he didn’t need to do it anymore because, all of a sudden, a rusty, abandoned car bumper came flying towards the powerline that Ponyboy was working on. It tangled itself in it like a yoyo. Its weight dragged the line down before it crashed to the ground along with the newly dislodged powerline. Like a wave, Tulsa went dark.

Well, that worked.

The storm was getting too intense, threatening to fling them off their utility poles. The two boys held onto them like their life depended on it. There was no way they were going to get to the ground in these conditions, especially with the powerline that was whipping wildly on the ground with sparks that were flying everywhere. If it were to hit any of them, they would most likely die within seconds. Of course, that was if they survived the tornado. The tornado wasn’t going to hit them, but, man, it was going to get close. Ponyboy didn’t want to find out how close a human could get to one before they were sucked in the vortex and thrown about.

Ponyboy held the pole tighter, shutting his eyes to protect them from the debris and from viewing his inevitable doom. But moments after he did that, a sonic boom caused his ears to ring. Instantly, everything went silent and the wind became still. Ponyboy reopened his eyes only to find the tornado gone and the sky blue as if a storm had never occurred in the first place. The only sign that there was one at all was the debris that had been blown everywhere and the wires that were now lying still on the ground. But, where the tornado once was, there was something else. From where Ponyboy was, he could see a thin line of light that floated in the air.

Descending the utility pole, Ponyboy’s arms felt like jelly. Samuel hopped down as well and both of them warily walked over to the free-floating line.

“Is that what I think it is?” Samuel asked.

“A wormhole,” Ponyboy breathed out. He honestly was expecting something more grandiose like an actual black hole; not a thin line in the air. He smiled excitedly nevertheless. This was it! He was finally going home!

“That means… this is it, right?” Samuel took a shaky breath, massaging the back of his neck. He stared intensely at Ponyboy as if taking in every detail of him so he wouldn’t forget him. “I won’t see you again after this?”

The smile dropped. Oh, right. It started to hit Ponyboy. After he steps into the wormhole, he would never be able to see Samuel again. His heart dropped to his stomach. This was it. He will never be able to breathe in Samuel’s eucalyptus scent again, hold him, or even learn more about him. Ponyboy was excited to leave, but not if that meant leaving Samuel. The other male made his heart flutter whenever he was around him. He always felt different when he was with him—not in a bad way but more in a way that made him feel like himself. Ponyboy couldn’t imagine living without Samuel by his side despite only knowing him for a short amount of time. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything,” Samuel said, shaking his head. “There’s no time anyway.”

“Thank you for everything, Samuel… really. You were the best part in coming to the future,” Ponyboy said, stepping forward to hug him tightly. Samuel squeezed him back, holding him a second longer than him. When they pulled apart, Ponyboy turned to the wormhole, breath shuttering. It was time. There wasn’t anything left to do. He already said goodbye to Johnny on the way over to the power plant. All that was left was to step in the rift.

As Samuel watched Ponyboy step closer to the rift, he couldn’t help but get a sick feeling in his stomach. It didn’t feel right and there were multiple reasons that could be plausible for that. First, he didn’t want Ponyboy to go. He wanted him to stay with him. He should just pull him away from the rift. That would be all it would take for him to stay. Second, his sick stomach was telling him that something was wrong. They didn’t know where the wormhole would take Ponyboy, if there was another side to it at all. They didn’t know how stable it was or how much longer it would stay open. Besides that, there were too many coincidences that day for everything to go as planned. Third, he ate something bad that morning and it was finally upsetting his stomach. It was most likely the first two possibilities though.

Ponyboy stepped forward and Samuel couldn’t take it anymore. Something bad was going to happen, he was sure of it. Before he knew what he was doing, he grabbed Ponyboy before any body part could touch the rift. He tugged him back with all his might.

“Hold on!” he hollered as he did that, collapsing in a tumbled mess on the ground.

“What?” Ponyboy stammered, lifting his upper half up. “What’s wrong? Why’d you stop me?”

“I—” But Samuel couldn’t speak. He just stared at the rift with wide eyes. What did he just do? This was Ponyboy’s only chance and he probably prevented him from going into the rift.

As Ponyboy was waiting for an answer, they both saw a bird fly in the direction of the rift. It must have not seen it because it flew right at it, entering it… or, at least, it tried to. It was only able to get its head in before the rift completely collapsed. It worked like a guillotine, cleanly cutting the head off the bird in less than a millisecond. The body fell to the ground in a bleeding heap, the slap reverberating in their souls. The head was nowhere in sight.

And, just like that, the wormhole was gone.

“It failed…” Ponyboy muttered, rolling off of Samuel. Cold sweat ran down his spine as he dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. That was it. That was his only chance of returning to his time period and it was gone. He was never going to get back home now. Maybe if he would have hurried, he would have made it back. But maybe the bird was a sign that it would have cut him in two if he stepped in. He would never know now. Tears threatened to spill out from his eyes as hopelessness completely washed over his once hopefully heart. “What am I going to do? I don’t know what to do now. Samuel, what am I supposed to do now?”

Samuel didn’t know how to answer that. He didn’t know what to do himself. He wished that he could be of more help to him. He took a deep breath. “I guess… you’re stuck here until we find another way to get you back.”

None of them believed that they would be able to do that though.


	12. You, Yourself, and Why

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ponyboy is down in the dumps and needs a pick-me-up.

Happy, elated, relieved, excited—those were some of the emotions that Samuel should have felt after it was confirmed that Ponyboy was going to stay with him longer. Instead, he felt defeated. Even though he should have been happy, he couldn’t relish that emotion because Ponyboy wasn’t that himself.

When they left the powerplant after the failed wormhole, Ponyboy stopped speaking. He kept his eyes trained outside, watching the familiar yet different city that he grew up in pass by. If his head was angled differently, Samuel would have seen the tears that were falling from his eyes. But even though he didn’t see them, he knew how hard it was for Ponyboy.

At home, Ponyboy headed straight to the guest bedroom and locked himself inside. For the rest of the day, he didn’t come out once. He didn’t even talk or text Samuel. When Samuel tried, he was ignored. Ponyboy didn’t come out for the next day either. Samuel would know. He watched the bedroom door like a hawk. The only reason he knew that there was someone there still was because of all of the shuffling and sniffling that came from inside. So, on the third day, Samuel decided that enough was enough. Ponyboy was coming out whether he liked to or not.

Samuel gently knocked on the door after he came back from the store. He shouldered his reusable, shopping bag so the strap wouldn’t dig into his fingers.

“Ponyboy?” Samuel called out, hearing the shuffling inside the bedroom again. “Can you open the door?”

There was no response.

“Please?” Samuel tried again. “Talk to me.”

“Go away,” Ponyboy finally snapped, voice muffled from either the door or a pillow. “I don’t want to speak to you, okay? Just leave me alone!”

Samuel flinched at the tone. He shook his head, reminding himself that Ponyboy wasn’t mad at him for pulling him away from the wormhole. He was just wallowing in the fact that the wormhole didn’t work, and he was stuck here. “Come on, you need to eat, at least.”

There was no answer this time, causing the older boy to sigh. It was time for Plan B. He pulled out his phone. There was one way he could think of that would bring Ponyboy out of the room. Well, without taking down the door. There was once a time when his door was removed by his parents for a couple of months. He didn’t want to repeat something so invasive and awful. Anyway, he started to spam Ponyboy with text messages. Samuel was glad that he never showed Ponyboy how to shut off his phone.

It was about forty texts into the spamming when Ponyboy threw open the door, having had enough of his phone going off.

“Stop!” Ponyboy whined, looking like a living corpse. Heavy bags hung under his puffy eyes that were very prominent on his sickly, pale skin. His hair was messy, and, although there wasn’t any debris still in it, it didn’t seem like he showered. He sure smelled musky enough.

“Come out,” Samuel said.

Ponyboy shook his head. “I don’t want to.”

“Then let me in. I bought food.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten anything in days. I don’t believe you.”

“Well, believe it.”

“ _Sure_ , Naruto,” Samuel said, rolling his eyes when Ponyboy’s stomach rumbled. “I’m coming in and you’re going to eat.”

Ponyboy sighed, dropping his eyes to the bag. He rubbed at his stomach tenderly. “What did you bring?”

“Chinese food and ice cream.”

The door opened for Samuel to step inside, which he did without pause. They settled inside the room, opening the contents and chowing down. The silence was awkward as Samuel tried to think of something to say. He wasn’t the greatest at starting conversations (let alone continuing them) and making them stay interesting. He stabbed at his chow fun with his fork, straining his eyes to look at Ponyboy that was just in his peripheral view. Ponyboy was practically inhaling his food, finally giving in to his hunger. Each mouthful tasted like heaven to him, but he tried not to show that. His pride wouldn’t let him.

Meanwhile, Samuel was thinking. He had to cheer him up. But how? He racked his brain. What could cheer someone up that couldn’t go back to the past? What could make someone who couldn’t return to his family and friends happier? He couldn’t just say “look on the bright side.” That won’t help change his mindset. He had to show him something.

That’s when he got it. He had to make sure Ponyboy saw that staying in the future was worth it. He had to get back on his feet and start living life with his head raised high. But where would he even start? He supposed he could ask Johnny because he knew Ponyboy the best. The problem was, he didn’t have his number. Only Ponyboy did. He hated the idea of snooping on his phone to get the number, but what else was he supposed to do? Look in a telephone book he didn’t have? There were probably other ways, but he couldn’t think of any on the spot.

“After this, let’s go out and do something,” Samuel said.

“I’m not in the mood to go out,” Ponyboy mumbled with food in his mouth.

Samuel shifted uncomfortably. “Do you want to talk about it? You know that I’m always there to listen to you.”

“I know… You keep reminding me. I’ve just been thinking a lot about what happened and what’s going to happen.”

“Are you disappointed that you have to stay here?”

Ponyboy slowly shook his head and corrected him, “I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s probably best that I stay here anyway. The gang seems like they’re really happy now, save Darry. I don’t want to ruin it by going back… which I _now_ know I won’t be able to do anyway.”

It was Samuel’s turn to shake his head. “Remember what your friend, Johnny, said? About how they would have been happier with you there and still alive? So, don’t think like that. Even if you can’t go back, you have to live for them and yourself.”

Pony took a bite of ice cream, pursing his lips. He swallowed thickly. “This ice cream is really good…”

“So, can you come with me to do something? I don’t want to do this stuff alone.”

Reluctantly, Ponyboy agreed. “I don’t think it’ll help or anything but if you want to do something then fine.”

Samuel internally cheered. He grinned. “Go get ready then. I’m going to finish eating my ice cream.”

“I have to finish mine too.”

After Ponyboy finished eating his bowl, he dragged himself to the attached bathroom to take a much-needed shower. A minute after the showerhead started running water, Samuel scooped up Ponyboy’s phone. He opened it up, knowing that the password didn’t change since he had it. He opened the chatroom between Johnny and Ponyboy. There wasn’t too much on there. Both of them weren’t good at texting from what Samuel could tell from the short scan. Not wanting to read the entire exchange between them, he started to text.

* * *

**Ponyboy  
** _Hi. This is Samuel  
We failed at getting Pony back to the past and he’s been really down  
I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to cheer him up?_

* * *

Perhaps Samuel should have called Johnny because it took a few minutes for Johnny to reply. But, then again, there was no way he was going to call someone. He would rather die. He looked at the bathroom door. Ponyboy would probably be finished with his shower in a few minutes. He had to hurry.

* * *

**Johnny Cade  
** _Hello, Samuel. I am fairly certain that is your name. Ponyboy talked about you a lot. He told me he really enjoys spending time with you. He likes to do a lot of things. He likes to watch movies, read books, and watch the sunset. When it comes to cheering him up, it usually just takes him doing these things. He never stays upset for a very long time._

**Ponyboy  
** _Ty :)  
I will try it out!_

**Johnny Cade  
** _This must be hard for him. I couldn’t imagine what I would do if this happened to me. I hope that it goes well for him. He shouldn’t have to go through so much in his life. Hopefully, he will feel better. I never liked seeing him sad._

**Ponyboy  
** _I finally convinced him to leave his room after three days  
I don’t know what to do. It’s like he gave up everything_

**Johnny Cade  
** _Then how about you take him to see Dally? He was a bad inspiration, but Ponyboy learned a lot of good things from him growing up. He will probably be able to help him._

**Ponyboy  
** _That sounds like a great idea!  
Where can I find him?_

**Johnny Cade  
** _He is at Oklahoma State Reformatory._

* * *

Samuel froze, feeling his heart drop. Dally was in prison? How were they supposed to go to him there? Prisons were strict about who was allowed to visit criminals. He was about to text something back to Johnny when another message was sent to him.

* * *

**Johnny Cade  
** _I’m on his visitor list. If you want, you can join me. They’ll let you in if I tell them that you’re with me. It’s been a while since I’ve visited Dally. I probably should go see him anyway._

**Ponyboy  
** _That would be great! How soon can we do this?_

**Johnny Cade  
** _I can make today work. We can meet there in two hours._

**Ponyboy  
** _Perfect! See you then!_

* * *

As soon as that text was sent, the shower water shut off. Samuel’s hair stood on their ends as he quickly deleted the messages. If he had a bit more time, he would have made sure that Johnny didn’t send another text. However, Johnny seemed to text slowly and practically wrote in long paragraphs (more like essays) when they weren’t necessary at all. But, whatever. He huffed and placed the phone back where it was before when he was finished. Ponyboy soon left the bathroom after that, looking a bit more alive and fresher.

“Ready to go?” Samuel asked, smiling a bit too widely. Ponyboy nodded, helping clean the food up before they could leave.

On the road, Ponyboy was still silent. He continued to stare at the buildings outside. The silence was almost unbearable. Fortunately, Ponyboy did start talking when he noticed that they were driving in the middle of nowhere—nothing but flat plains in sight.

“Where are we going?” he asked, looking forward to see if he could find any landmarks. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward in his seat when he saw a large structure. It took a second to recognize the tall watchtowers and barbed wire fences. “You brought me to a prison? Why?”

“Dally’s here,” Samuel answered simply when he parked the car.

Ponyboy snapped his attention over to the driver. “Dally?”

“Yep.” Both of them got out, leaning against the car as they waited for whatever reason.

So, Dally was arrested. Honestly, that didn’t surprise Ponyboy. Dally was arrested so often that he gained a reputation. “What’s he in for?”

“Multiple accounts of burglary, arson, drug dealing, drug possession, fraud, and assault. He keeps getting life sentences right after he gets out. I don’t know if it’s on purpose because he doesn’t like it there,” Johnny answered out of nowhere, walking over to them.

“Johnny!” Ponyboy exclaimed in shock. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think…”

“I’m here to help you see Dally. Samuel contacted me.”

Samuel chuckled awkwardly, looking away when Ponyboy turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

“We should go in,” Samuel suggested, pointing towards the entrance.

Agreeing, the three of them walked over to the entrance and waited to be let in. They slowly went through the screening and, soon enough, they found themselves in front of bulletproof glass. Since it was crowded with the three of them, Samuel decided to sit down somewhere else.

Finally, Dally was brought to them.

The man definitely looked his age. He was an impish-looking, buzzed-cut man with sharp features only because his skin sagged so much. He was thin from probably not receiving enough food. There was some muscle around his biceps, but, other than that, there wasn’t anything too special about his appearance. Some old tattoos ran up his arms. Ponyboy couldn’t make out what they were because of how faded they were and how wrinkled his skin was.

“Hey, Johnny,” Dally greeted when he picked up the phone on his end. Johnny was at the other end for introduction-sake. “It’s been a while since you last were here.”

“It sure has,” Johnny agreed. “I still don’t know why you keep getting yourself in trouble.”

Dally shrugged. “I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

“You know you could stay with me. I’ve got plenty of room at my place.”

Dally shook his head. He never liked having to rely on others. He shifted his attention to the teenager next to Johnny. “Who’s the kid?”

Johnny looked at Ponyboy with a warm smile. “You know him, Dally. He actually came to speak with you.”

He passed the phone over to Ponyboy who pressed it against his ear.

“Hi, Dally,” he awkwardly greeted. He pondered if he should admit to Dally who he was or go with his alias. It certainly would be easier to tell him everything and it wasn’t like his secret was going anywhere with him being in prison and all. Besides, Dally always had his back. He never gave up anything whenever he was interrogated either. He went along with everything. Despite always causing trouble, he was one of the most trustworthy people that he knew.

“ _Yeah_ , hi,” Dally snarked. “Now who exactly are you, kid?”

“You’re not going to believe me.”

“What exactly am I not going to believe here?” Dally narrowed his eyes at him.

“It’s me… Ponyboy.”

At his name, Dally nearly dropped the phone. His jaw slightly dropped, eyes widening—an expression that Ponyboy hardly ever seen adorn Dally’s face. He quickly collected himself, tightening his grip on the phone to the point where his hands were shaking. He narrowed his eyes, calculating him. “Stop fucking around. How do you know that name?”

“Because it’s me. When I disappeared after the tornado, I went here to the future.”

Dally scoffed, growling. “Do you think that I’m stupid? Put Johnny back on.”

Ponyboy nodded, handing it back over. Convincing Dally was going to be a lot harder than he thought. Johnny pressed the phone to his ear.

“Johnny, why is this kid claiming that he’s Ponyboy?” Dally asked, shooting pointed glares at Ponyboy. “Why did you bring someone crazy like that here?”

“He’s telling the truth. I’m telling you, that’s _actually_ Ponyboy,” Johnny justified. “Do you not recognize him?”

Dally looked Ponyboy up and down. It did look like him from what he remembered, but, then again, it’s been a while since he had seen a photo of the boy—decades even. The only difference from what he could tell was the hair which wasn’t slicked back like how a greaser did theirs. But that didn’t matter. There was no way that the kid was Ponyboy. “Okay, what crazy shit did he put you on? That can’t be Ponyboy. Sure, he may freakishly look like him, but seriously? I thought you were over it. Ponyboy’s _dead_.”

“I know it sounds impossible, but it’s true.” There was something about Johnny’s confident, unwavering eyes that had Dally nodding.

He sighed. “I don’t believe you, but I’ll bite for now. Put the kid back on.”

Ponyboy was handed the phone back. And Dally instantly said, “I still don’t believe you, but if Johnny is confident that you are who you say you are, I will give you a chance to prove it.”

Prove it? How was he supposed to prove it? He could hardly prove it to Samuel, and he got lucky with Johnny. He had no tangible proof of him being a time traveler. But maybe that was it. He couldn’t show Dally anything, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t _tell_ him things. He had memories and those were the best proof that he had. But where would he begin? Swallowing, he started.

“Your name is Dallas Winston, but you go by Dally. You were in a gang with Darry, Soda, Two-Bit, Steve, Johnny, and me, Ponyboy. Although, it was more like a group of friends than an actual gang,” Ponyboy rambled, chuckling. “You had an on-off relationship with Sylvia for a while, but whenever you were arrested, she would go after other guys. Tim was always mad at you because you kept slashing his tires for fun. Um… I used to draw you a lot—way more than the rest of the gang. You caught me a few times and told me to draw you differently.”

“This doesn’t prove anything,” Dally stammered, although shocked that he knew all that information. “You could have heard all this from someone.”

Ponyboy scratched at one of his palms, chewing on the inside of his cheeks. What was something that only he and Dally knew? “You told me not to tell anyone this but… There was a time when you got blackout drunk at a party, during that time, you either lost your clothes or someone took them. You weren’t certain. But you had to streak across town. I caught you on the way back from the library and had to shoplift clothes for you.”

Johnny stifled laughter and Dally’s mouth dropped again. How did this kid know that? It was only between him and Ponyboy. He knew that Ponyboy would never rat out that story unless there was no other choice left. But that would mean that the person in front of him was indeed Pony, and that didn’t make sense. There was no way that he could be there. Time travel wasn’t real. He scratched at his scalp.

Johnny _did_ vouch for the kid, and he wouldn’t joke around about that sort of stuff—especially about Ponyboy. None of the gang would. Although he disappeared a long time ago, there was still quite a bit of hurt leftover. Ponyboy’s disappearance had left a gaping hole within everyone.

So that concluded it. In front of him was the once-missing, Ponyboy Curtis—the kid that was practically like a younger brother to him.

But how?

Nothing made sense. If this was really him, how was he here?

“What the hell…” Dally mumbled incredulously. He leaned forward. “You’re really him? You’re not pulling my leg? Because, if you are, you’re not going to be happy about what will happen.”

“I’m telling the truth,” Ponyboy answered, expression turning somber. His eyebrows knitted together, causing creases to form on his forehead. His lips quivered a bit. “I got sent here during that tornado. A wormhole opened but I was never able to get back. I’m stuck here for good, but I guess that’s fine. Me staying here means that most of you will end up happy.”

Dally knocked on the glass, startling Ponyboy. “What’s with that expression?”

“I give up.”

“Kid,” Dally started, rolling his eyes, “if I wasn’t stuck in this coop, I would have punched you.”

“What—”

“You can’t seriously be down in the dumps about that. Listen, the past was shit and the future is shitty as well. You can’t go back. So what? So what you can’t go back to us in the past. You’re not living for other people. So, stop trying to do what you think is best for other people and start doing what you think is best for yourself, got that? Be happy with what you got and, I don’t know, think about the positives instead of the negatives.”

Ponyboy pressed his lips together. He had no idea how much he needed to hear those words. Even though he wasn’t expecting them, they left a large impact. Deep down, he didn’t want to hear the word “sorry” or the phrase “it’s going to be okay”. He was getting sick of those words.

“You got that?” Dally asked.

Ponyboy nodded feverishly. “Yeah. Thanks, Dal.”

“Now get out of here, Ponyboy. I need to speak to Johnny for a sec.”

Johnny took the phone from Ponyboy as the boy left with one look over his shoulder.

“So, what do you think?” Johnny asked, a smile on his face.

“I don’t see how you’re not freaking out about this more,” Dally said.

“Trust me, I’m freaking out. It’s very surreal.”

“I’ll say.” Dally stood up, indicating that he was about done with the conversation. “Make sure you take care of him.”

“I will. Thanks, Dally.”

“Anytime, Johnny.”

They made their way back to their vehicles. Samuel shook Johnny’s hand in thanks. They silently hopped into their cars and drove off. This time, Ponyboy was more uplifted.

“Are we going back now?” he asked.

“No,” Samuel said. “I’m going to show you what the future has to offer.”


	13. He Didn't Mind So Much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel shows some things from the future.

In the end, they had to return to the house after all. Samuel didn’t tell Ponyboy what he had planned for the rest of the day, only that they had to come back to change clothes and get ready. Pony didn’t know why he had to change because he thought that his outfit was enough already. Yet, multiple outfits were thrown at him to try on, each one more ridiculous than the last. He wasn’t sure if he was wearing anything correctly, especially when it came to the extensive accessorizing. Ponyboy missed the outfits he used to wear when he didn’t have to care too much about how he looked. Apparently, stylized outfits were important now. Samuel explained that outfits, hygiene, and hair changed so much of how other people perceived them. The most attractive feature that a guy could have, when not including personality and interests, was the hair—a random point Samuel brought to his attention.

“Look at Dylan O’Brien,” Samuel provided even though Ponyboy didn’t know who that was.

Finally, after over an hour of work and “montage” music, Ponyboy’s final look was finished. It was this techwear (as Samuel described it) inspired look. It was an over-the-top style but, in a way, it was tuff-looking. However, what made the outfit ridiculous was the neon accents, which wasn’t necessarily common with the style. Most of the time the outfits were supposed to be black and/or white as it was explained to him. He was now wearing dark cargo joggers that clung around his ankles; fastened around the waist with a belt. Thin neon orange lines ran up and down the leg of the pants. There were other belt-like straps that came off it, hanging from the pockets and the belt. He was given a neon shirt that hugged the features of his torso and arms tightly, a belt harness on top of that.

Neon was a ridiculous category of color. It was so bright and fluorescent that it made his eyes hurt. Why anyone wanted to wear such atrocious colors were beyond him. Samuel wore more neon than him, but the style and scheme matched his. Honestly, Ponyboy thought that it would have been better for him to wear Samuel’s outfit so he wouldn’t have to look at it all the time.

“This outfit’s… extra?” Ponyboy said uncertainty, testing out the slang word.

“It’s totally extra,” Samuel chirped, going to bring out a makeup bag. As soon as he took out an eyeshadow palette, Ponyboy protested.

“I’m not wearing that. Makeup’s for girls,” he complained, leaning away. Samuel rolled his eyes.

“ _Wow_ , it’s the sexism for me.” He placed the palette back down.

“What was that?” Ponyboy looked at him incredulously, raising an eyebrow at the weird tone and statement. He shook his head, disregarding it. It was probably just a statement. Nothing more. “I just don’t think it’s right for a guy to wear makeup. I don’t think you should wear it.”

Samuel raised an eyebrow as well. “It’s the toxic masculinity for me.”

There it was again. Was this a thing? Is this a form of insulting someone in this generation? It seemed pretty sassy, so he guessed that, if it was, it wasn’t meant to be truly insulting. They were more like small jabs if anything. Well, two can play that game. “Well, it’s the peer pressure for me.”

Samuel laughed. “Come on, leave the toxic masculinity in the past. Plus, a lot of guys wear makeup. There’s nothing girly about it. I mean if you don’t want to wear it, it’s fine.”

“Maybe… another time.”

“Then how about face paint?” That was something Ponyboy didn’t mind so much.

After they finished getting ready, there was still time left before whatever Samuel had planned. Samuel suggested they watch a movie, something that Ponyboy never did yet in this time period. Movies had honestly slipped from his mind, but could you blame him? His life had been hectic.

They sat themselves on the couch, both of them sitting close to each other even though there was a lot of seating around them.

“What are we going to watch?” Ponyboy asked.

“I don’t know, what are you in the mood for?” Samuel questioned.

Ponyboy shrugged. “I don’t really know, what are you in the mood for?”

Great, both of them were indecisive. “Um… how about something horror?”

Horror? Ponyboy wasn’t so sure about that. He was never great at horror movies because of his over-imagination. Samuel must have noticed his uneasy expression because he reassured, “Don’t worry, the movie I have in mind is more of a gay rom-com with horror only sprinkled in it. Not scary at all.”

“What is it called?” Ponyboy asked. That didn’t sound so bad.

“We’re going to watch _IT_.”

“Yeah, but what’s it called?”

“ _IT_?”

“Yeah, what’s it though.”

“The movie’s name.”

“What is?”

“ _IT_ is it.”

Ponyboy groaned, massaging his temples. “But what is it?”

“The title.”

“What’s the title?”

“The title is _IT_. I-T. _IT_.” Samuel said it slowly as if he were talking to an alien. Ponyboy’s mouth opened in realization. That _was_ the movie’s name.

“Oh! _IT_!”

“Yeah,” Samuel chuckled.

“Okay, what’s it about?” Ponyboy asked, curiosity plaguing his mind.

“Simply? A shapeshifting monster eating kids.”

What the hell. “I thought you said it was a gay rom-com with a little horror.”

“It is, but… just watch.”

Samuel quickly set the movie up, settling himself next to Ponyboy again. The heat of his body warmed Pony’s side. He found himself leaning towards his friend, relishing his body heat. He trained his eyes on the screen, marveling at how different it was from the TV at his house. It was so large, and the images were so nice that the actors looked like they were right in front of him. He could never get over that. The one in his rugged house was small and the images on the screen were grainy. It was a lot of work to watch TV. He constantly had to stand up and walk to it to change the channel—which only had a few—and he had to adjust the antennae every day. So, seeing how all of those problems were solved now was flabbergasting.

It didn’t take too long into the movie for Ponyboy to look away, disgusted.

Not scary his ass!

There was so much blood and gore that it made his stomach knot. Samuel was laughing the entire way through and Ponyboy was convinced that he was a maniac. He found himself nearly getting a heart attack at each jump scare. The detail was way too real for him. It made him feel like Pennywise was going to be waiting to get him in the next room. It was still a great movie, don’t get him wrong. It just made him feel sick, is all. Maybe he just wasn’t used to it. Maybe gore and blood in film were normal now.

So, instead, Ponyboy found himself looking at Samuel, focusing on the small shifts of emotion that crossed his face. He still watched the screen often and listened to the audio, but he kept his eyes as trained to the boy during the scarier parts. He was happy that there were so many humorous parts in the movie or else he would have been staring at Samuel the entire time.

The excitement was clear on Samuel’s face, mouth mouthing the same words as the actors. It was quite impressive. He found it to be more entertaining than the movie itself. Before he knew it, the movie was finished.

“Okay, time for the next one,” Samuel proclaimed.

“Next one?” Ponyboy gaped. “Why are we watching the next one?”

“We still have a lot of time and the second one wouldn’t make as much sense if you watch it within a week.”

They started to watch the second one which was far less scary, but there were scenes that still made his stomach clench. This time, they weren’t from the blood and gore. Instead, he felt sick at all the homophobia and hate-crimes. Although there were minuscule gay references in the first movie, the second one had whole dedicated parts about it. Well, for the period-typical homophobia parts, that is.

There were amazing characters, which had to be his favorite part of the movies. All of them had their own defining traits and character development. If he had to pick a favorite character, it would be Richie. He sort of reminded him of a more hyperactive and unfiltered Two-Bit. Not only that, but both actors that played him performed phonemically. He especially liked Bill Hader who added his own flair to the character. Samuel, on the other hand, had a thing for Pennywise. Pony didn’t know why though.

These movies were supposed to be scary, and they were, but Samuel’s antics made them hilarious. He made all of the lines dramatic and weird, and, usually, Ponyboy hated when people did that during a movie. However, with Samuel, he found that he didn’t mind so much.

“I’m guessing these types of movies aren’t your first pick,” Samuel said randomly. Ponyboy shrugged.

“There wasn’t really a pick of movies. Whatever showed, I watched it,” he explained.

“You peg me as someone who would like _Anne with an E._ ”

Ponyboy mouthed the name, hearing the familiar ring to it. “Is that _Anne of Green Gables_ , the book?”

“Yeah, yeah. They made a show for it that’s wholesome. I’ll have to show you sometime. That and make you go through a Marvel movie marathon.”

When they were finished with the movie, it was finally time to leave. They left in the car, driving across town to a building with a lot of flashing machines. Ponyboy stepped onto the strangely patterned carpet, looking around the neon lights and lines of tickets being dispensed.

“It’s an arcade,” Samuel explained, seeing his awe. “It’s a place where you can pay to play games and possibly win prizes. But we aren’t here for these games.”

“We aren’t?” Ponyboy asked, trying to keep up with Samuel as they squeezed through the people there.

“No, we’re here for _that_.” Samuel pointed in front of him to a separated section of the arcade. People were waiting in the room he pointed to, probably for their turn for whatever this was. Both of them walked up to the cash register where an attendant was waiting. He paid for the game that they were going to play. Laser Tag… Ponyboy wondered what that was.

A few minutes afterward, they were let into a smaller room with the other people that were waiting. As soon as he stepped inside, Ponyboy saw why Samuel wanted to wear neon. His clothes glowed brightly under the black light. Some of the people wearing white had their clothes glowing as well. Maybe the color wasn’t so bad after all. The style looked tuff there and he didn’t think that things could get better. That was until the instructions of the game were played to him over a monitor.

Shooting people with lasers? Defending their base? Man, the future sure had some ideas on entertainment.

After the instructions were finished, it was time to equip themselves with the equipment, which looked even better with the outfits they were wearing. He slipped on the vest, which glowed red to match his gun. The preselected name _ROBIN_ was displayed on the screen.

“Red Robin, yum,” Samuel mumbled behind him, reading over his shoulder. Samuel looked so badass under the black light as well.

“What’s yours say?” Ponyboy asked, trying to get a look at Samuel’s gun.

“Terminator.”

“That’s such a tuff name.”

“Cool, you mean. Your name is… cute.”

Ponyboy playfully glowered at him but couldn’t help but smile. “Shut up. I’m going to shoot you first.”

“But we’re on the same team!” Samuel shot back, gaping at the claim.

“What a shame,” Ponyboy mumbled, turning his gun in his hand.

They were let into the arena when the alarm sounded and Ponyboy ran in with the rest of his team. The place was like a maze, tall walls stretching everywhere. It didn’t take long to get lost in it. It also didn’t take long for him to lose sight of everyone, even Samuel. He was on his own for now. He slowed his speed to a walk, gun raised and back tense.

He licked his lips nervously. Now that he was on the field, it was a lot more nerve-racking than what the instructional video displayed. His eyes skittered around the area for anyone on the opposite team, making sure nobody was creeping behind him as well. Suddenly, a person jumped out from behind one of the walls, shooting him in the chest with a beam of a laser. His vest turned off and the guy escaped before it could turn back on. Ponyboy huffed. Great. He was already off to a bad start. He wondered how Samuel was doing. He probably already had a ton of points, unlike him.

The game went on like that. He hardly saw Samuel the entire way through. In the end, he didn’t do too hot, but that was to be expected. It was during the second game when things went differently. There was another group playing with them this time. However, because there wasn’t an even number of players between the two teams, some people had to switch sides. Unfortunately, Samuel decided to be helpful, leaving Ponyboy on the red team with a bunch of people he didn’t know. Not only did he feel nervous now, but also dread. Why did he have to be the one who switched sides?

So, there he was, back as ROBIN in the maze with all walls. He passed by a few of his teammates, shot a few on the blue team, and got shot himself. He was jogging around, despite knowing that he wasn’t allowed to. He still was hyperaware of his surroundings, waiting for Samuel to pop out. Probably halfway through the game, he started to believe that he wouldn’t see him, which was sort of disappointing.

That was until someone grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him down to the ground. The strong scent of eucalyptus flooded his nostrils. It was Samuel. The glow of their vests danced on both of their faces. Samuel was so close to him, practically leaning over him with one of his hands pressed against the wall near Pony’s head. Ponyboy’s breath hitched in his throat, eyes boggling.

“Samuel, wha—” Ponyboy sputtered, surprised, but a hand clamped over his mouth to keep him quiet.

“Shh, there’s a bunch of people around the corner,” Samuel whispered, not realizing the position they were in. Or maybe he did, and he was just teasing Ponyboy, he wouldn’t know. Ponyboy’s chest fluttered in his chest, eyes never tearing from Samuel’s sharp facial features. He hadn’t seen his face like this before—so confident and all. He usually was more sly or anxious.

Ponyboy had to force himself to focus, moving the hand off his mouth. “Samuel, we’re not on the same team anymore.”

Samuel finally looked down, his face turning red from either blush or the light of Pony’s vest. He shifted a bit away from Ponyboy to be in a less awkward position, putting a hand on the red gun. He smiled knowingly, a mischievous glint in his eyes. It was too late when Ponyboy realized what was about to happen. “I know.”

Samuel shot his gun at Ponyboy’s chest, deactivating it. He held tightly onto Ponyboy as he continued to shoot at the chest whenever it would turn back on.

“Hey!” Ponyboy protested, struggling but Samuel kept his hold tightly.

“Shouldn’t have trusted that I wouldn’t do anything,” Samuel laughed.

Ponyboy squirmed as much as he could. Somehow, during his struggle, he managed to lift up his gun just enough for it to be able to hit Samuel’s vest if he shot, which he did. He spammed the trigger, even when his gun was deactivated. As soon as it turned on, it shot a short beam of a laser, deactivating Samuel’s vest.

During the time of shock, Ponyboy managed to break free from Samuel. He flipped them around so that he was the one that was trapping him instead.

“Gotcha,” Ponyboy huffed, shooting Samuel in the chest. He kept shooting Samuel’s vest over and over again just like how it was done to him. During that time, Samuel didn’t even struggle. At first, Ponyboy thought nothing of it. But, by the time he shot him around twenty times, he began to wonder. Only when he looked up, did he figure out why.

Ponyboy’s face was a lot closer than what he thought it was. They were so close that their noses were almost touching. Their eyes locked, unwavering.

“I…” Ponyboy said dumbly. He shut his mouth to keep himself from looking like a fish.

Samuel was about to say something himself, but the alarm for the end of the game snapped them out of their daze. Ponyboy quickly shot up, giving one more look at Samuel before rushing away.

That was too close.

* * *

* * *

To top off the night, Samuel took him to a rave. He didn’t know what a rave was exactly except that it was like a party. Ponyboy wasn’t a fan of parties. They were awkward and boring. There wasn’t anything to do but talk to drunk people, which wasn’t his favorite thing to do. He didn’t drink himself because he hated the taste and Darry would kill him if he did. He technically wasn’t allowed to go to them, but he tagged along with Dally or Two-Bit sometimes.

He was certain that Samuel wasn’t a party person either. He wasn’t much of a person that made many social interactions with other people. He couldn’t even handle a simple phone call. When he commented on it, Samuel said that it was okay because a rave was a party without the need to socially interact with anyone. All they had to do was vibe with the music and dance. That’s where another problem arose. Ponyboy sucked at dancing.

He had been to a few school dances, but he only went for the social part of it and not the dancing bit. He’d never danced with anyone before, which was embarrassing to admit. The gang had teased him countless numbers of times about that when they found out, but there wasn’t really anything that could be done about that.

“I can’t dance,” Ponyboy confessed. He had to put it out there before he embarrassed himself.

“Don’t worry,” Samuel reassured with a smile. “All you have to do is jump up and down or sway and you should be good.”

That was it? Dancing was more complex in his time period. Hopping around seemed too easy to be true. “That’s not dancing.”

“No, but that’s what we do at places like this. I will say though that there are the people who are grinding and the showoffs. Just ignore them and focus on having fun.”

Having fun. Right…

When they got there, Samuel walked up to his group of friends who were arguing about something.

“But, like, I don’t think he’s sus,” one girl said.

“That’s because you slept with him, _bitch_ ,” another girl slapped back, overemphasizing the last word. Ponyboy cringed at hearing it but nobody even batted an eye to it. “He’s been simping to get into your pants and to take advantage of you, just like the others. How large is your body count, bitch? Thirty?”

“Only four but go off.”

“Four? How is it four? You’ve explicitly described more than four genitals to me.”

“Girl, you know it doesn’t count if you don’t sleep with them more than one time. It doesn’t count if they aren’t any good.”

“True,” another boy chimed, and the original girl nodded her head in acknowledgment.

Ponyboy’s head was spinning at the conversation. He had no idea what was going on.

“Where have you two been?” one of the friends asked when they joined the group.

“Around and about. Do you have the tickets?” Samuel asked.

“Bet. Gotta spend some of the cash from my sugar daddy.” Sugar daddy?

“Thanks. I couldn’t go up there because of my insufferable social anxiety.” While he was talking, he was shaking his fingers that were situated like a gun. Actually, he noticed that he did that a lot now. Basically, whenever he spoke to him. He just didn’t notice it until the other people in the group were doing it too whenever they talked. That had to be a thing as well. Christ, he’d been learning new habits and phrases every day.

They finally got in after talking outside for a few minutes. Ponyboy could hear the music from outside, but when he was in there, it blasted his eardrums. There was a horde of people, all closely compacted together. A blast of heat hit him, and the musky smell made him blech. Just like with laser tag, his outfit lit up under the black light. But his outfit wasn’t one that stood out compared to those worn by some other people. There were many people there that were dressed weirdly—shirtless guys covered in glitter, girls in lingerie, and even a girl who was wearing a bunny suit. Ponyboy didn’t feel so strange anymore. He was still uncomfortable though.

For a long moment, he watched as the horde danced. Then a hand placed itself on his lower back, causing him to shiver.

“Let’s go,” Samuel said in his ear, pulling him forward into the crowd. They weaved themselves through people, finally settling in a semi-open spot. They were still smushed between people who were too close for comfort. Just like what Samuel said, everyone was jumping or swaying along with the must. Many others were doing much more than that though, and Ponyboy found himself blushing at the intimate movements. He turned his head to an old, crackhead woman who was screaming and flashing her breasts to the guy on the stage.

Ponyboy tried to dance as well but the music wasn’t his type, so it was hard to move along to it. He felt so out-of-place. But Samuel made sure he had none of that by dancing like a complete idiot that made Ponyboy laugh. He tried to copy his friend but probably looked even more like a fool. Slowly, he found himself relaxing and having fun. He raised his arms in the air and cheered. People around him cheered with him, fueling him with newfound energy.

“Hey, I got drinks!” one of Samuel’s friends yelled over the music. She held out cups for them to take. Ponyboy could smell the alcohol before he could take one.

“How did you even get these? You’re underage,” Samuel asked but only got a wink as an answer. Ponyboy took a sip and cringed at the awful taste. Why people liked to drink was beyond him. He could barely stand the taste. Samuel looked at him concerned, not taking a drink himself.

It was hard to tell if Ponyboy was having fun. He hoped he succeeded in that, and he almost believed it with all the cheering. But now that alcohol had found its way there, he started to doubt himself. Was he drinking to enjoy the experience? Was he being overzealous in the activities that he picked that day? He really should have picked something that was more Ponyboy’s taste than his own.

“Hey,” Samuel started, not wanting to waste the night on alcohol. “Dance closer to me.”

Curiously, Ponyboy stepped closer. Samuel twisted his body so they were basically in their own bubble that consisted of two people. They were close to each other, but not too close that a small push would knock them into each other. Ponyboy kept his drink close to his chest as he subconsciously swayed to the music, matching Samuel’s movements. Even though it didn’t match the intensity of the music, it didn’t matter. It was just them and no one was judging them.

Once settled, Samuel took another step closer to him, swinging his arms around Ponyboy’s waist. The younger boy sputtered, eyes growing wide at the bold gesture. His face turned red, but nobody could see it under the black light.

“Is this alright?” Samuel asked and Ponyboy could only nod, not trusting his voice.

Ponyboy went to take another drink to calm himself down, but before he could touch the rim to his lips, Samuel placed his hand on his wrist, bringing it back down.

“Hey, don’t drink anymore,” he said.

“Why?” Ponyboy finally got out. The air between them was stiffening.

Samuel bit his lip, looking down at Ponyboy’s lips nervously. He looked conflicted, arguing against two choices. But he picked one in the end. “Because I want you to remember every second of this night.”

Suddenly, he leaned forward, crashing their lips together. Ponyboy’s eyes widened in shock as his first instinct was to move away. However, he calmed down, closing his eyes. His arms slightly went limp, causing his beer to spill onto him. But he didn’t care. The softness of his vanilla-flavored lips melded perfectly with his. His heart hammered against his chest again, his mind going absolutely blank.

However, it was over far too soon and Ponyboy found himself chasing Samuel’s lips when he moved away. And, unfortunately, it also didn’t take him long to snap out of his daze, realizing what just happened as well as where they were.

Both of them were male and two guys weren’t supposed to kiss in public—that’s what he was told in his time period. He remembered the gay couple in _IT_ who was beaten bloody and the slurs thrown at the characters constantly. He remembered poor Richie who was stuck in the middle of things. Now, they were in public, at least a hundred people surrounding them, kissing. That was bad. Ponyboy panicked, head snapping around to see who was looking at them, but nobody paid them any mind.

“What’s wrong?” Samuel asked, grounding him a bit. It wasn’t enough though. He was still waiting to be called a fag or a fairy. He was still waiting to be jumped and beaten half to death.

“I… uh…” Ponyboy stammered, unable to think of the right words. He kept thinking to run, but the hand on him tightened—not enough for it to hurt but enough for him to tether him to the spot. “We can’t…”

Hurt flashed across Samuel’s eyes and he pulled away. He took several steps away from Ponyboy, almost knocking into other people. He dug his nails into his wrists. “Oh. I thought that you liked me back. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No!” Crap. This was turning into such a mess. He liked Samuel—like _really_ liked him. He never felt this way towards anyone before and that scared him. He couldn’t bear to see the hurt on Samuel’s face, but he just couldn’t be with him. “It’s not that. I just…”

“You just what?”

Ponyboy quieted down his voice so that it was barely audible. “I do like you that way, but it’s not safe.”

“Not safe?” Samuel asked, tilting his head to the side. It took a while for him to realize what he meant by that. He stepped forward so they were close again. “You’re… You’re scared about homophobia.”

Ponyboy nodded. “I want this but…”

“It’s okay now, Ponyboy. You don’t have to be worried about that sort of stuff much anymore. Being gay is accepted by most people. It’s safe to be yourself here. This isn’t your time period anymore.”

Right… It was 2020, almost 2021. It’s not 1965 anymore. Almost sixty years have passed so there were many changes. Being gay was okay now. Marrying another guy was okay, although he wasn’t thinking about marrying anyone just yet. But this meant that it was okay to say, “I really like you, Samuel.”

Samuel caressed his cheek and Ponyboy leaned into the touch instead of flinching away. He could do this. “So, is it okay if I kiss you again?”

“Yeah, I’d prefer it if you did.” This time, they met each other halfway. Their lips touched and Ponyboy let himself melt into it. This felt right. He finally understood why some of the members of the gang liked to kiss so much. It felt great and he finally felt safe. This was him and he was gay. He was free to be him.

When they pulled away again, Ponyboy heard Samuel’s friends cheer at them. Both of them smiled so widely at each other that their faces started to hurt.

“Next time, I’m going to take you to do something you will like more,” Samuel said.

“I don’t mind as long as you’re there with me,” Ponyboy answered, leaning his head onto Samuel’s shoulder. Maybe the future wouldn’t be so bad if Samuel was there with him.


	14. Getting Lost in a Swirl of Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ponyboy and Samuel go out to drink some coffee while Soda still worries.

The next morning, it was bright and sunny. The rays of light that peeked through the blinds warmed Ponyboy’s skin, encouraging him to open his eyes. When he did, he was blessed with the sight of Samuel lying next to him in bed. The light illuminated his skin, casting a bright aura around him as if the gods had decided to bless him with godhood. He gently smiled. Not able to help himself, Ponyboy cuddled closer to him.

Last night felt like a dream, and it still felt like he was in one. He couldn’t believe it happened, but the other boy that was tangled up with him told him otherwise. This was real, despite everything seeming like it came straight out of a storybook.

Eventually, Samuel opened his eyes as well, taking a moment to focus them before they landed on Ponyboy. He smiled widely at the sight of him.

“Mornin’,” he said with a husky voice.

“Mornin’,” Ponyboy repeated. Samuel tilted his head and gave him a quick peck on his forehead. Ponyboy blushed, wanting to hide his face. Yeah, this defiantly felt like a dream. He could lay there in bed for the rest of his life if it meant that this moment between them wouldn’t be broken. But, alas, his bladder told him that he had to get up soon. “Do we have something on the agenda today?”

“Today…” Samuel hummed to himself and Ponyboy could feel his throat vibrate. He giggled, his lips muffled by Samuel’s throat. “We have to finish homework first, and then, after that… we can do whatever you want to do.”

“Whatever I want to do?” What _did_ he want to do? Ponyboy didn’t know. He didn’t know what his options were. He wanted to try something new, but since he didn’t know the extent to that, he couldn’t say what. He didn’t want to do something too extreme because his legs were still sore from all that moving around last night. He was so tired that, as soon as they got home, he went straight to bed. “Can we do something simple? I don’t know what’s there to do.”

“Something simple like a café?”

That wasn’t what he thought of when thought about trying something new, but maybe it was best not to overwhelm himself. He didn’t have to keep jumping from one thrilling activity to the next. Besides, he might experience something new there anyway. “Sure. A café sounds perfect.”

“Would you like to read a book while there? I like to read there.”

Ponyboy nodded, grinning hard. That actually sounded really nice. He missed reading. “I would love that.”

“Do you want to stop by the library or read from a Kindle?”

A kindle? He pulled back from Samuel to stare at him quizzically. That’s an awful name for anything book related. What was he going to light on fire? He hoped that there was no burning involved. “What’s a Kindle?”

“It’s a device to read books from.” Oh. At least they weren’t lighting books on fire. It was interesting though.

“I can try it,” Ponyboy said. Samuel nodded and got up. A whine almost escaped Ponyboy’s lips as his main source of heat left. He sat up as well, cracking his back. “You don’t have to get it now.”

“If I don’t get up now, I won’t get up at all.”

He left and Ponyboy took this time to go to the bathroom. When he returned, Samuel was back with the Kindle. He handed it over and Ponyboy sat down on the messy bed, flipping the device around to get a fuller inspection. It just looked like a bigger phone to him.

“This is it?” Ponyboy asked. How was a small device like this supposed to be a book? It seemed like a waste of money for just one book. “Isn’t this too expensive for a book?”

“ _A_ book?” Samuel repeated. He shook his head. “No, Ponyboy, this can hold _thousands_ of books.”

Ponyboy gaped. Thousands? On this tiny device? No way. But, then again, he wasn’t that surprised. His phone had so many features that it still surprised him. Why shouldn’t a device hold an entire library on it? “Oh.”

He opened the kindle, flicking through it. There were already many books on there.

“Do you have a recommendation on what I should read?” he asked.

“Er… My favorite book is _They Both Die at the End_ , by Adam Silvera. It’s on there,” Samuel suggested.

Nodding, Ponyboy searched for the book on the device. When he found it, he put the Kindle down, got ready for the day, and sat down to finish his homework. Luckily, they weren’t given much that weakened, much to their surprise. They’re usually given a shitload of homework that would take them into the morning to complete. This time, it only took them a few hours. But it did help that they did bullshit many of those assignments. After they were finished with everything, they left.

Samuel took him to a place called Starbucks, which was crowded and too loud for his liking. It wasn’t what he imagined when he thought about a café. The image that popped up when Samuel suggested a café was a quaint shop with few people inside that served simple coffees in porcelain cups. The only thing that fitted this image was the overwhelming scent of coffee. The coffees served at Starbucks looked extensive, but one look at the menu told him that they were expensive as well. He gaped for the second time that day.

“Why is it so expensive?” Ponyboy asked.

“Capitalism,” Samuel simply answered. “Just like everything else in this world. Anyway, what do you want to drink?”

Ponyboy scanned his options on the menu, shaking his head. “I have no idea what anything is.”

Samuel laughed at that. “Me neither usually. I just ask them to get me whatever the last person ordered. It’s been different every time and I haven’t been disappointed yet.”

And that was what they did when it was time for them to order. There was a couple in front of them, so they were able to get different drinks, which was lucky. If they didn’t like what they got, they could just switch. They got an Iced Vanilla Latte and a Strawberry Crème Frappuccino. It sounded way too fancy for him, but everything on the menu sounded like that.

They sat down by one of the windows at a counter. It was then when Ponyboy took an experimental sip to his Strawberry Crème Frappuccino, and, to his delight, it was actually pretty good. It tasted like a strawberry shake but less creamy. It wasn’t too sweet and it was just right. He hummed, smiling as he took a bigger sip.

“Good?” Samuel asked, laughing at his childish behavior. “Want to try mine?”

Ponyboy eagerly nodded, as they temporarily switched drinks. It was just as good. They switched back, getting comfortable on their barstools. Samuel swung his legs on the edge of Ponyboy’s seat, who, in turn, did the same so that there would be a bridge connecting them. A bit flustered, Pony looked around to see if anyone would care about the small bit of affection like this. Just like every other time, nobody paid him any mind. Some people did look, but they smiled at him before going back to what they were doing. Ponyboy sighed in relief and pulled out the Kindle. He started reading the book that Samuel recommended to him.

The book was short. Even the chapters were short, not going more than a few pages. It only took a few pages for him to conclude that reading on the Kindle did not trump reading a physical copy of a book. It wasn’t the same whatsoever. The feel of it was completely different. With the Kindle, he was unable to feel the edges of the pages nor was he able to smell that nostalgic book smell that he had grown so aquatinted with. The satisfaction of turning each page wasn’t there. However, he would admit that he enjoyed how convenient the Kindle was. He was able to carry it around everywhere without worrying about harming the book and it didn’t take up much room. He also was able to read in the dark, which was _very_ important.

Anyway, the book he was reading was engaging, pulling him into the story like how movies did. It only took a few chapters for him to fall in love with the two protagonists and get attached to them. He tried not to get attached because he already could tell how the story would end from the plethora of hints, but he just couldn’t help himself.

He continued to read the book for probably hours. It didn’t feel very long at all. Ponyboy only became aware of the time when he completely finished his drink. It didn’t help that he had forgotten there was a drink to finish multiple times. Once he sucked up the last bit of his Frappuccino, he looked at Samuel who was on his phone, reading some long text again.

“What are you reading?” Ponyboy asked, awkwardly leaning forward to get a better look. Samuel quickly turned his phone over, smiling suspiciously innocent at him.

“Just some… you know… short stories,” Samuel swallowed. Ponyboy raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of short stories?” he pushed, enjoying how Samuel squirmed. He leaned forward, feeling his calves stretch. Samuel tried to hold the phone away, but Ponyboy managed to snatch it before that.

“Ah… well…” Samuel stammered, sighing in defeat.

Ponyboy scanned the page that Samuel was on, reading the information about the story that was displayed at the top. “This says it’s over four hundred thousand words! This isn’t a short story!”

“Well, it’s…”

“It’s over _eighty_ chapters.”

“It’s short to me,” Samuel defended, flustered.

Sure, eighty chapters was a breeze to read even for Ponyboy who cracked open books quite often. But that word count was large. This was around the size of _Gone with the Wind_ , and that book was definitely not short. That book was so thick that if it were to fall on someone’s head, they would most likely die. “Why do you consider this short?”

“If it can be read in a day or two, then it’s short.”

Ponyboy didn’t argue with that. He scanned the text more, seeing familiar names pop up.

“Pennywise, Bill, Richie, Bev…” he read off, looking back at Samuel with a raised brow and a smile. “Are you reading the book for _IT_?”

“A nonofficial version of it,” Samuel said, shrugging.

“What does that even mean?”

“It’s… er… made by fans.” Ah, why not tell him at this point? “It’s a fan-written story using the characters. It’s called fanfiction.”

So, fanfiction was writing stories based on preexisting work, Ponyboy mused. That was awesome. Many times in his life, Ponyboy had wanted to write fiction based on the movies and books that he had completed. He always wanted more and imagined many different plots based around them. It was amazing that there was something for that in the future.

“Can I read it sometime?” Ponyboy asked.

“I mean, yeah. Sure. Anytime. Just try not to read from Wattpad because you will spend a lot of time trying to find a well-written story. When choosing a story, make sure you check the tags,” Samuel said.

“Why?”

“Because the summary will be good and then you read the story and all of a sudden there’s incest or explicit bestiality in it.”

Ponyboy was glad he didn’t have anything left to drink because he would have spat everything out at that statement. His ears turned red. People were writing porn?

“About the characters?” he sputtered.

“Yes, but also original stories and actual people as well.”

So straight-up porn. Ponyboy looked around Starbucks. Samuel was practically yelling everything. However, even though he was loud, nobody looked at them which was strange, to say the least. He made a note to be careful before reading any fanfiction story. He hoped that there were many stories for the works that he loved and that the stories were all completed. Little did he know, that was not the case. He found that out the hard way when the writer went on a never-ending “hiatus”.

“That’s… great for them,” was all Ponyboy could stay in a positive way through clenched teeth. He awkwardly looked down at the Kindle, dragging his finger across the screen to flip the page. Just read the awkwardness away, he told himself. They continued on like that for a bit longer. Their legs were still pressed together as a bridge to continuously remind each other that they were still there.

This was nice. Ponyboy loved how they were able to enjoy each other’s company without needing to constantly be speaking or going on wild adventures.

Eventually, it was time to go. Ponyboy felt like he could stay there for a long time though. They were only going because it started to feel like they were irritating the employees by being there. While they were walking out, Ponyboy saw a group of girls who had a phone balanced on a table outside. They were sloppily dancing, if that’s what you could call it. Ponyboy couldn’t judge. He wasn’t a great dancer himself.

“What are they doing?” Ponyboy asked, gesturing to them.

“Probably trying to get clout on TikTok,” Samuel answered, taking a quick look at the ridiculous looking girls. He struggled to fish his keys out of his pocket. “Clout means getting famous or popular, by the way.”

“What’s TikTok?”

That question froze Samuel for a moment. “You mean I haven’t shown you that yet?”

Ponyboy shook his head. Was it really that important? “What is it?”

“An app where you watch short videos.”

“So, like Vine?”

“Yes, but the videos are longer on TikTok,” Samuel explained, finally getting in the car. “They can be about anything. Those girls are trying to get DanceTok clout. I’m not really a fan because it’s hardly dancing, and everyone copies each other. Actually, there’s a lot of copying, but that’s not the point. The point is that there are many different sides to the app. There are hacks on every subject you could think of, funny jokes, cosplay, pets, FrogTok, GayTok, and much more. You honestly learn more on it than what you do at school.”

“More than school? How could you learn more than what you’re taught at school?” Now it sounded like he was messing with him.

“Just stuff that I didn’t already know about that I could use in the future. Like I just learned what the top holes on a shoe are for, the ones that never get shoelaces threaded through them. _And_ I learned that the image of Jesus that is used today is Michelangelo’s gay lover, who he sculpted.”

Out of everything that was just said, he only had one question, “Michelangelo was gay?”

“So fucking gay.” Samuel started up the car. “You can start watching some on the way back. The app is already downloaded on my phone.”

Ponyboy picked up Samuel’s phone, finding the app. He clicked on it and settled back to enjoy. And he might have enjoyed it more than the vines.

‘ _Well, you know the saying: keep your enemies close and your friends **DEAD**_ ,’ one video said and Ponyboy choked in laughter. As he continued to watch more, he started to notice that a lot of slang was used in both the videos and the comment sections. Maybe this was where Samuel got his vernacular. Yeah, he was definitely going to waste a lot of time on this app.

* * *

* * *

When Steve went back to work, he was surprised to find Soda there. The greaser was slumped over the counter, head buried in his arms. When the bell dinged upon Steve’s entry, his head eagerly popped up staring at him with tired yet wild eyes. When he saw who it was, a look of disappointment crossed his face before he slumped back down.

“Geez, I feel so welcomed,” Steve sassed, crossing his arms.

“Sorry… Glad to see you,” Soda said, standing back up. “I thought you might have been Ponyboy.”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “You really thought that Ponyboy would come here first instead of his house.”

“I don’t know… but there’s still a chance he might show up here. That’s why I can’t give up hope.”

“Fuck, man, you should be back home. Get some rest. You’re too tired to work.”

Soda shook his head stubbornly. “I can’t! Ponyboy might—”

“You won’t be any good with you not being in top condition.”

“I keep telling him that he’s going to scare all the customer’s away because he looks like a zombie,” came Two-Bit’s voice from behind a shelf in the gas station. Steve whirled around in surprise.

“When did you get here?” Steve asked.

“A bit before you came in. Came to pick up some booze.” He held up a box of beer.

“You know we can’t legally sell you that.”

“But you don’t actually care.”

“Well, do you have money on you?”

Two-Bit patted around in his pockets, finding that they were empty. He had left his wallet somewhere. He let out a short laugh, scratching the back of his neck. “I can pretend to be Soda. How hard could this job be?”

“I don’t think you can attract as many girls as he can… but, sure. Soda needs to go home anyway. We can watch for Ponyboy here.”

“But—” Soda started to stammer but was cut off.

“Go,” Two-Bit insisted. He shook the box again. “We got everything we need.”

“Are you planning on drinking while working?” Steve asked incredulously. Two-Bit shrugged. “You know, one day, you’re going to regret drinking so much.”

Two-Bit grinned. “That’s my future self's problem.”

Soda sighed, grabbing his things. “Tell me if he comes by, okay?”

The two nodded, knowing full well that Ponyboy wasn’t going to be there. Whatever would make Soda feel better though. But, they couldn’t help but start to feel irritated that Soda was still clutching onto something that was never going to come true.


	15. Vintage Date

And just like that, another two weeks passed by in what felt like a blink of an eye. Time went by quickly for Ponyboy because there was something new each day. It didn’t matter where he was—school or at Samuel’s house—he found it all exciting. Lately, Samuel had started to show him more films because he wasn’t “cultured enough.” They first started with a Harry Potter marathon before moving onto others such as Ghibli, Marvel, and Disney. Most of the films were masterpieces. The movies he had seen from his time period weren’t even close to how great they were.

In addition to this, Ponyboy had been spending as much time as possible with Samuel. Which wasn’t that hard because they lived together. They were always together, practically hip to hip with one another. It was hard to find them by themselves besides when they were in class. But, despite them spending so much time together, they hardly publicly displayed their attraction with one another. Ponyboy was still hesitant to even hold hands in public. He kept trying to remind himself that it was okay, but it was hard to break out of that mindset.

In private, Ponyboy seemed to make up for it though. They haven’t gotten further than kissing yet. Ponyboy wasn’t ready for anything more, but he enjoyed every other aspect of the relationship though. When driving, they would hold hands despite it being dangerous. On the couch, they would be cuddled up or absent mindlessly playing footsie. In the bedroom, they would kiss. Ponyboy liked that a lot.

He never thought that he would become addicted to kissing, but he was. He just couldn’t get enough of Samuel. Their lips were a perfect fit, like two pieces in a set. But, even though Ponyboy was addicted to them, he had never once initiated it. Again, that was because of his mindset. It was so hard to wrap his head around how being gay was accepted in the future because he grew up knowing that it was illegal in his time period. He was trying though.

“Hey, I’ve got a question for you,” Samuel randomly said one day while handing off the edge of his bead. Ponyboy looked at him from the book that he was reading, adjusting himself to be more comfortable. “If our situations were switched and I was the one in your time period, would we still get together?”

Ponyboy pressed his lips together into a tight line. It was a random question but serious all the same. He knew that Samuel wanted to hear him say that they would, and he probably should have said it. That way, the conversation would have been over and would have had no consequences. But he couldn’t lie because the historical answer was so blatantly obvious.

“Honestly?” Ponyboy began. It wasn’t a great way to start. “We probably wouldn’t get together like this. I wouldn’t have accepted my sexuality.”

“Oh…” Samuel mumbled, eyebrows downturned in hurt. Ponyboy quickly retraced his steps.

“But don’t get me wrong! I would still like you the way I do now. But as soon as I would realize what I was feeling, I would be too scared to go forward with it. Back then, being gay wasn’t safe. It was scary. Even though it would hurt me to not be with you, it would hurt me more to see you beaten to death. Or me… I don’t want the people I love to turn their backs on me or be hurt either.”

Samuel nodded in understanding. The past sucked. “I wouldn’t want to see you in pain either. I’m really glad that it was this way because I like what we have.”

“Me too,” Ponyboy agreed. “Why’d you ask?”

Samuel shrugged. “Just curious. I’ve been thinking about it… like how different it would be…”

“Would you even want to go to the past?”

“Definitely not,” Samuel snorted. “I just like the aesthetic. Everything else is crap. I want to be able to love myself; not someone who has to feel ashamed about liking other guys. I don’t think I could be happy in the past.”

If Ponyboy were to return to his time period, would he be happy? Samuel was right. The past was crap, and he would be forced to stay in the closet for decades. By the time it would be okay for him to come out, he would have lived through most of his life. In that way, he was grateful for this opportunity. Because he was sent to the future, he had the chance to be himself.

“Okay,” Samuel started, sliding down to sit next to Ponyboy. “Let’s say that being gay was okay in the past. Would you be my boyfriend then?”

“Of course!” Ponyboy instantly answered. Was that really a question he had to ask? “But you’ll have to face the gang teasing us all the time.”

Samuel laughed. “And since I’m the newbie, how would you set up a date? What would you show me that would make me love the past?”

Ponyboy hummed. He had to think about that one. He had never set up a date himself, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t imagined it before. “If we went on a date… maybe we will go to the drive-ins and watch a movie or go bowling. Maybe I would take you to a diner to eat or we can set up a picnic and watch the sunset.”

“That sounds very romantic.” Samuel was grinning hard that Ponyboy’s cheeks started to hurt looking at him. The older male crawled a bit closer to him, kissing him briefly on the lips. But soon, the small peck became deeper. Their teeth clanked as they pressed their lips bruising hard against each other. All thought left Ponyboy’s head, just leaving behind Samuel and the noises that both of them were making.

Samuel pulled away first, leaving Ponyboy to chase after his lips. He decided, “We should do it.”

“Do what?” Ponyboy asked, still dazed.

“Your date idea. We can do it over the weekend.”

“Okay?” Ponyboy didn’t know where this was coming from, but who was he to deny this request? He loved to spend time with Samuel after all. He smiled. “We can do that.”

* * *

* * *

Before they knew it, it was the weekend. Samuel surprised Ponyboy by throwing his keys at him.

“What’s this for?” Ponyboy asked, jiggling the keys.

“You’re driving this time,” Samuel answered like it was the most obvious thing ever.

“What?” Ponyboy snapped his full attention to Samuel in shock. He rapidly shook his head. “No! I don’t know how to drive! I don’t even have a license!”

“That’s why I’m going to teach you.”

Ponyboy sighed in defeat. He wanted to drive, don’t get him wrong. He just didn’t want Samuel to get in trouble and he didn’t want to accidentally crash his car. He had driven a few times before with Steve. Steve wanted to teach him so he wouldn’t have to drive him everywhere anymore. Meaning he wouldn’t have to spend more time around him. Ponyboy had no objections about that. However, he only got a small grasp on _manual_ cars. He had no experience with _automatic_ cars.

“Are you sure?” Ponyboy asked again, still unsure. “I won’t be able to get a license. If we get pulled over—”

“I highly doubt a cop will pull you over unless you drive like an idiot or you GTA someone,” Samuel said.

“GTA?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just don’t drive dumb. I should know. I’ve never gotten a ticket yet.”

Ponyboy raised an eyebrow. “But you just got your license not that long ago.”

Samuel waved his hand to pass off the comment. “Yeah… but still. If you happened to get pulled over at one point or get yourself in an accident, just tell them you forgot your license. They will get you to contact someone to confirm your identity, which would probably be me or Johnny. Now, let’s go!”

They got inside the car—Ponyboy behind the wheel and Samuel in the passenger’s seat. He stiffly strapped himself in, now feeling like he was being suffocated instead of being safe. The car was dead silent, which was great. He felt like music would have been too distracting for his first drive. He wiped off the sweat from his palm or tried anyway.

“To start, hold down the brake and press the start button,” Samuel instructed, strapping himself in as well. He did just that, feeling the car rumble to life. “Keep your foot pressed on the brake and shift into drive. Then just go.”

Ponyboy turned to Samuel. “That’s it? Just go?”

“There’s nothing more to it. The right pedal is to speed up and the left is to brake. You won’t need to shift gears because well… it’s Oklahoma.”

Ponyboy wasn’t sure if it was as simple as Samuel was implying it was. However, he let go of the brake anyway, feeling the car move forward on its own. He pressed the gas pedal and the car jolted forward with a loud vroom of the engine. Ponyboy subconsciously squeaked, instantly letting go. He tried again, pressing as softly as he could this time. The car went forward, gradually picking up speed. His arms were shaking as he waved like a snake on the road. Fortunately for them, there wasn’t anyone else driving on it.

“Steady your arms. You’re weaving everywhere,” Samuel said, holding the grab-handle tightly. He was starting to regret letting Ponyboy drive.

“I’m trying!” Ponyboy defended, keeping his arms as still as he could. His back was stiff, not resting back on his seat.

“And speed up. You’re not going fast enough.”

Not fast enough? It felt like he was going a hundred miles per hour. He was used to going fast as a passenger but being behind the wheel was another feeling altogether. He was in a killing machine. All that it would take to kill them, and maybe other people, was a small jerk of the wheel. He pushed that thought aside. He shouldn’t be thinking about killing while he was driving. “What’s the speed limit?”

“I don’t know, like forty-five?”

Ponyboy nodded, trusting Samuel on that. He sped up despite it feeling uncomfortable. They really need to put more signs up. Adrenaline pumped through his veins when he went on a busy road, following the directions from the GPS. After a longer-than-necessary, stomach-turning drive, they finally made it wouldn’t any incident. Ponyboy couldn’t wait to kiss the ground in relief.

“I’m driving back,” Samuel said, paler than a ghost. “I saw my life flash before my eyes.”

“You’re just being dramatic,” Ponyboy commented, although he saw his life flash before his eyes as well.

They entered the bowling alley, grabbing their shoes. Ponyboy looked around and was happy to find that nothing really changed. He used to go to this bowling alley with the gang, so he memorized the layout of it. Although there was some newer technology, things generally stayed the same. It was honestly relieving.

Going over to their lane, they typed their names in the machine. Ponyboy went as Pony while Samuel decided to go as a completely different name altogether: Jim.

“Why not Sam?” Ponyboy asked, laughing.

“When bowling, I am Jim. That is my bowlsona. I am no longer Samuel here,” came Samuel’s dramatic answer. Ponyboy snorted, grabbing his ball. It didn’t matter what name he was going by. He was going to crush him either way.

Pony was great at bowling, that was a fact. Since there weren’t many group activities in his time period (at least one that fit the interest of everyone), the gang and him always went bowling. Although he considered himself great, he was only average compared to the gang. Darry, Steve, and (for some reason) Two-Bit were the best players. Johnny and Ponyboy were in the middle. Dally and Soda were the worst players because they never took the game as seriously as the rest of them. They were still great players though.

For a long time, Ponyboy thought he was only an okay player. That was until he started playing with other people that weren’t in the gang. And, man, was he surprised to finally compare his skill to reasonable people.

Samuel was up first, rolling the bowling ball. It went straight… before curving into the gutter. Laughing, Samuel tried again, this time knocking down a few pins.

Ponyboy picked up his bowling ball when Samuel sat back own with a shrug and a grin. He squinted his eyes, assessing how he should roll the bowling ball. He pulled his arm back, feeling the weight of the ball strain his wrist. He rolled it forward, letting one of his legs swing behind his other. The ball rolled quickly forward, hitting the center pin and effectively knocking down the others with it. A strike.

“Wait, how are you so good?” Samuel asked, blinking heavily. His mouth was slightly open. “It’s only your first turn!”

“Practice,” Ponyboy answered, hiding a smile as best as he could but failing miserably. “Your turn.”

It went on like that for a while. Ponyboy usually got spares and some strikes while it was rare for Samuel to get either of them. He was laughing though, not bothered by the fact that he was losing by a landslide. Suddenly, an idea popped into Ponyboy’s head.

“We should make a bet,” he suggested.

“A bet?” Samuel said, getting interested. “A bet for what?”

“If you can get a strike on your next turn then…” Ponyboy bit his lip. What could he bet that would be worth it? He glanced around. Maybe… “If you can get a strike, then I will kiss you right here and now in front of everyone.”

“Right here?” Samuel smiled excitedly, the corners of his mouth going to both of his ears. Ponyboy was probably hoping that he wouldn’t get a strike. But for him to be offering it at all? That was a huge step forward. “Okay, you’re on.”

Samuel was sure he wouldn’t get a strike. Those were way harder to get than in Wii Sports. But he wanted to try because the prize was just too good. He rolled the bowling ball, watching it slowly go towards the pins.

There was no chance that he could get a strike.

Then the bowling ball hit the first pin. Both he and Ponyboy held their breaths as the pins started to fall one after the other. The last pin fell with a small bounce and a sound that should have been quieter than it was. For a moment, the two just stared before they realized what happened. It was a strike. What were the chances of that happening? Samuel whirled to Ponyboy, his grin somehow even bigger.

“I can’t believe you got that,” Ponyboy gaped, still trying to process everything. He stared at the score screen, seeing it flash _STRIKE_ with brilliant animations. There was no doubting that. Samuel really did it.

“Fate wanted this to happen,” Samuel said, walking towards him excitedly. “Now give me my prize.”

A blush flooded Ponyboy’s face, eyes flickering around the bowling alley. Nobody was looking at them like always. He bashfully smiled, stepping closer to Samuel, and placed a hand behind his neck. Gently, almost like a ghost had done it, he pressed their lips together. Although soft, the kiss felt electrifying as if it were their first one. All of their kisses felt like that, but, somehow, this one was even more special because it was Ponyboy who initiated it.

Ponyboy pulled away, taking a step away from him. That wasn’t as hard as he thought it was going to be, he marveled. Nobody even spared them a look when they did that, and it felt so nice to do. He reached down to hold Samuel’s hand, giving it a small squeeze. His face burned and his heart was racing as if he had just been on a roller coaster. Yeah, he definitely loved this.

“Let’s finish the game, shall we?” Samuel asked, letting go to pick up his bowling ball.

“Yeah,” Ponyboy chirped, chuckling.

They finished the game—Ponyboy won, of course—before heading out. Instead of going straight to the car, they decided to walk around a bit. Maybe they could find a place to eat instead of chowing down on cheesy nachos in the bowling alley. Their hands were intertwined, fingers slipped between one another like a pattern. This time, Ponyboy did not care that they were in public. Most people wouldn’t care if they liked each other as long as they didn’t shove their tongues down each other’s throats in front of them. Ponyboy wouldn’t want to do that anyway.

While they were walking, however, Ponyboy stopped short when he saw something… or rather, someone.

Was that…?

No, it couldn’t be. He was getting people mixed up.

But maybe?

Samuel looked at him with knitted eyebrows. He was probably worrying him with his abrupt stop.

“Ponyboy? You alright?” he asked in concern, gripping his hand tighter.

Ponyboy didn’t answer at first, peering at the stranger. It couldn’t be him, could it? That would be too much of a coincidence. Then again, almost everything that had been happening to him lately was a coincidence. Everything was such a coincidence that he wouldn’t be surprised if a bus fell from the sky and landed next to him without exploding. So how was this any different?

The person before them… he knew him. Although older, his facial features were unmistakable. There was no mistaking it. Ponyboy felt it in his gut. It had to be him.

Ponyboy cleared his throat, feeling the tension of his muscles there. Without thinking it, he held Samuel’s hand even tighter, which was squeezed back with the same fervor. He opened his mouth and called out, “Two-Bit?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting from the next chapter on, it’s going to become more serious. You’re all going to find out Ponyboy’s decision in a few chapters. We are racing towards the finish line now.
> 
> Also, updates may be less common now. I’m working full time and the job is the most socially and physically exhausting thing ever.


End file.
